Legends of the Fox
by Patient Mountain
Summary: Tales from across the lives of Uzumaki Naruto, his family and his friends. A little something for everyone. The restored version of a once-deleted story. Incomplete, but for the first time including the never-published final chapter.
1. Prologue

**_NOTE: This is a very old fic which used to be published on this site but which I deleted in a fit of depression. It's never going to be completed, but I got requests for it regularly enough that I thought I'd just re-upload it. Since it's very old, naturally there are lots of elements of it that no longer fit with canon. But my intention was always to tell my own story, so I never tried to be true to what I thought would happen._**

**_I've kept the Author's Notes intact from the original, but I'm going to remove the review responses. Just treat the whole thing as a reproduction rather than something new. For example: I'm well aware of the various errors that are based on incorrect translations. Also there might be some inconsistencies based on edits that were made to the uploaded documents rather than the ones saved to my hard drive.  
_**

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But dabbling is fun!

**Prologue**

"Mama, tell me a story!"

The little girl lay in her bed, but all the same she was filled with energy. Her mother smiled serenely and brushed her daughter's messy hair. "Alright my little one, what would you like to hear about?"

"Ninjas! The strongest ninjas in the world!"

The woman laughed gently and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Alright. This story starts right here, many years ago. Your mother was just a little baby when a terrible monster attacked the village. It killed many brave ninjas and even some of their beautiful little children."

Yume frowned at her mother's words, her bottom lip quivering. This didn't seem like such a good story after all.

"But don't worry, the monster was stopped. The greatest ninja in the village--"

"Yay! Tell me about him!"

"Shush. The greatest ninja in the village knew there was only one way of stopping the terrible monster, and it would mean sacrificing his life for his village's safety. But he was strong and his heart was pure, so he had no regrets. Except that he couldn't live to protect the people he loved for longer.

"The great ninja took into his hands a tiny baby, and using his greatest technique he sealed the monster away within the child's belly."

"How did it fit?" Yume asked, puzzled. Her mother smiled. "It shrank, of course! Shrank down inside a seal on the baby's stomach."

"Who was the baby? Did he grow up to be the strongest ninja in the world? Stronger than papa?!"

"Just wait Yume. Now news of the great ninja's sacrifice spread far and wide, but the truth about the little boy was kept a secret outside of the village. Except for the leaders of the other villages, who were told the secret in case of great emergency. Now one of these leaders when he heard about the baby boy wasn't impressed by his heroism. And he wasn't even scared of the monster's power like too many were. No, all he felt was jealousy.

"But he also had an idea. A terrible, terrible idea. But one which excited him. He felt that his village was too weak, and he wanted to do something about that. So he took an old tea kettle that the village kept locked safely away and he used another great technique. Inside the kettle was another monster, and inside the belly of the man's wife was another baby. So the man took the monster, and used his power to seal it away within his unborn son. So when that baby was born, now there were two children out there with the same burden."

"What's burden mama?"

"A burden is something you have to carry, Yume. It can be something simple like a promise or it can be a terrible monster. Each of the brave little boys – just by living – had to hold back the powers of the monsters they carried. Every moment of their lives was spent protecting the people of their villages from the wrath of those monsters, and even though they should have been praised for such bravery they weren't. Instead they were hated and feared and abused. And they grew up anyone to love them."

"What about their mamas and papas? Didn't they love them?"

The woman smiled sadly at her daughter and stroked her cheek. "The little boy who carried the fox monster didn't have a mama or papa. And the other boy's mama was dead, and his papa was afraid of him. He was a bad man, bad enough to curse his son, and he didn't love him like he should have done."

Yume's eyes filled with tiny tears, and she reached out for her mother. Taking her daughter into her arms, the dark haired woman whispered into the little girl's ears that she loved her and she would always love her.

"But don't worry little Yume. Don't worry. Because despite how hard their childhoods were, both boys grew up strong and loving. The little boy from here in the Leaf village grew up without any friends, but even so he became warm and loving and kind. The little boy from the Sand was less lucky. He grew up cold and cruel."

"Cruel?"

"Yes. He was very strong. Stronger than any normal child could be, and people were scared of him. When he was just a few years older than you his father ordered the only person he loved to kill him, and he accidentally killed her instead. So he grew up thinking that the only way to live was to kill."

"I don't like him!"

"Just wait a little while, things change. When they were both twelve years old the two boys met for the first time. They had both grown very strong, and they fought. The boy from the Sand, he had been told to attack the Leaf, and the other boy wanted to protect the village he loved, even if it hated him. So with everything he had he fought back against what looked like impossible odds, and finally he beat the tanuki child. But he didn't kill him. He didn't hate him. He opened his heart to the boy whom he knew had felt the same pain as him, and accepted him. And that was how the boy from the Sand learned about the true meaning of strength."

"To protect your precious people!"

"That's right," the woman kissed her darling daughter. "The fox boy knew that instinctively, even though as far as he knew no one had ever loved him."

"What happened next?"

"Well, they both kept on growing bigger and stronger. The tanuki boy learned to love his family and his people, and he became the leader of his village. But there was a terrible group of people who wanted the powers of the monsters inside the children. They craved power, and would sacrifice everything and everyone to get it. They captured both of the children, which was the second time they met. Neither had forgotten the other, and each considered the other a true friend for all that they had only met once. The boy from the Leaf shared the secret of the fox monster with his friend, and the other boy knew at last that they were the same.

"And together they fought. They were strong, but anyone would have considered them weaker than their captors, since they were two to nine. But they fought with all they had, and they fought with a greater bond and love than any of those nine bad men could understand."

"And that's why they won?"

The woman laughed. "That, and their friends. They had made great friends in their lives, and those friends stopped at nothing to save them. There were fifteen of them in total – boys and girls and even a dog. Together they fought and defeated the bad men. And the boy with wild blonde hair--"

"Like mine!"

"Yes, just like yours. The boy with the wild blonde hair and the fox monster sealed inside himself was finally recognized as a true hero by his village and made their leader. And together the two became known as the strongest ninjas ever to live – an unstoppable team - and the greatest leaders of their villages ever as well."

"The boy… he was from the Leaf, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was."

"And the leader of the Leaf is the Hokage!"

"Right again my little angel."

"But papa is the Hokage! And before him was Tsu-obaasan! So the story can't be true!"

"Think it through a little more Yume, it'll come to you."

Yume pouted and looked at the facts. Her papa was the strongest ninja in the village, that was why he was Hokage, she knew that. And the leader of the Sand was the Kazekage, her uncle Gaara. He was her papa's best friend. And… Yume's eyes grew wide.

"The little boy… was papa? And the other one was Gaara-ojisan?"

"I knew you'd figure it out, you're so smart."

"Then that means… that papa has a monster sealed inside him?" Uzumaki Yume's pale eyes filled with tears again, and she trembled.

"That's why he has those marks on his cheek."

Yume brushed her own cheek, tears flowing down her face. Her mother wiped them away. She could see the question in her daughter's eyes. "Don't worry little one, there's no monster in you," she traced the whisker marks on Yume's face one at a time. "All it means is that you'll grow up strong like your papa. Maybe even stronger!"

"I wanna be the Hokage too! I'll be stronger than papa and mama and I'll make sure no one has to grow up alone again! And I'll.. I'll.." her eyes drooped and, the only words that came out of her mouth after that were too quiet to hear as she fell asleep.

"That's the spirit my little Yume. Grow up strong and brave just like your father."

"Did I hear someone mention me?" Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf and still the number one unpredictable ninja popped his head round the doorframe. "Nice story. Shame you missed out the part about the little fox boy's beautiful and talented admirer, and how she won the heart of the strongest ninja in the world who was too stupid to notice how lucky he was. I know that's my favourite part. Well, that and how she took pity on him and agreed to marry the senseless clod, even though she could have had anyone she wanted."

And he kissed her, and it was still as filled with love and passion as their first kiss and their second, and every one through the years. He'd promised to love her forever, after all, and Uzumaki Naruto never went back on his word. And neither did Uzumaki Hinata, which is why she returned that kiss with just as much fire as she had every time before.

"But I only wanted you."

**Author's Note – well, here's what may be the start of a new fic. Or it might be a one shot - it works either way. I plan on it being the prologue to a longer story. Probably with short chapters updated fairly quickly rather than longer ones. I think I can maintain interest better that way. I could have stretched this out longer than I did, but I didn't see the point. It tells the story it's supposed to.**


	2. Chapter 01

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter One: The Uzumaki Clan**

Twenty years ago, the Uzumaki clan didn't exist. Twenty years ago there was just a single orphan boy without a family or even a friend in the world.

Uzumaki Naruto. It wasn't a real name. It was just something that the Third came up with to describe the poor boy. He had a spiral seal on his belly after all.

But Naruto took that name and made it stand for something. He became the Rokudaime Hokage. He became known worldwide as the strongest ninja in the world and the Leaf's greatest hero. And even after he found out what his real name was, Naruto didn't abandon Uzumaki. He made it his own instead.

Uzumaki Naruto didn't go back on his decisions. That was his Ninja Way, after all. He decided to become respected, and he did. He decided to become Hokage, and he did. And he decided that he would have a family with the woman he loved, and that they'd grow up proud to be Uzumakis.

And they did.

Now the Uzumaki clan is loved in Konoha more than any other clan. The head of the clan was the Hokage, which didn't hurt of course, and his wife was the former heiress of the Hyuuga. Before the rise of the Uzumaki the Hyuuga had been the most respected clan in the village. Hyuuga Hinata had fought her whole life for respect as well. She was the heiress by birth, but was stripped of her inheritance when she proved too weak for her father's taste. It took her years and the help of the man she loved to prove otherwise, and now she was one of the strongest Jounins of the Hidden Leaf.

But the very day she had been restored as the Hyuuga heir, she announced to her father that she didn't want the title any more. She was leaving the Hyuuga for another clan. She would rather be just a member of the Uzumaki than the head of the Hyuuga.

The clan had wanted to seal her Byakugan, to make her a Caged Bird. But they quickly changed their minds when Hyuuga Neji, strongest member of the clan by far, had silently threatened to kill anyone who tried.

That wasn't the day that Naruto asked her to marry him. That was the day she asked him to marry her. He'd had to think about it for all of half a second before grabbing Hinata and kissing her deeply. She'd asked if that was a yes, and he'd kissed her again.

Naruto had cried the day she told him she was pregnant. He cried because he was happy – he'd always wanted a family. And he cried because he loved Hinata more than the world, and the idea of raising a family with her was his idea of heaven. And he had cried because he was scared. He didn't know whether he could be a good father – he didn't even know what a good father was supposed to be like. Hinata had kissed him and told him that if he was half as good to their child as he was to the village he would be a wonderful father.

He had cried the day Yume was born. And again they were tears of joy and love and fear as well. Because Yume was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, with his hair and her mother's eyes. And because she inherited more of him than he had ever wanted. She had tiny whiskers, just like his.

The last thing he wanted was for her to grow up like he had – hated and feared for something she could never change.

Naruto had put everything he owned towards finding out about Yume. Not that he had to, of course. It helped that the two greatest medic nins in Konoha were his "mother" and "sister", after all. It helped that the people of the village would do anything for him and his family. Tsunade and Sakura worked night and day for weeks examining the baby and samples of her, comparing them to Naruto's and also researching legends of demons and mystical creatures (and their offspring) from across the globe.

And when Naruto's worst fears were proved wrong, he allowed himself to cry again.

A year later the Uzumaki clan grew again. A baby boy this time, his hair dark like his mother's. Naruto named him after the most important man in his life, and he loved little Iruka with everything he had and more.

Iruka and Yume grew up together, as close as siblings could be. They did everything together – playing, fighting, training and everything in between. They even ran away together, when Iruka was just three and Yume four. They didn't want a new baby brother, so they thought they'd set out on their own. They planned to be Hokage after all (they agreed that both of them would get to be Hokage, but arguing over who would get to go first was the cause of daily brawls), so it was best to get started early. And it's not like their parents could be in two places at once, after all.

How quickly they learned. The Great Uzumaki Expedition (as it would come to be known) lasted approximately two hours and thirteen minutes, from the time they left through a window of the Uzumaki mansion to the time they were caught on the roof of their favourite ramen restaurant by their father. And their father. And their father. About twenty of him, in fact. They were afraid he'd be mad and shout at them, but instead he just chuckled warmly and told them they'd have to try better next time, and wouldn't they like to come see their brother Neji?

Neji was a good name for an Uzumaki, Naruto had declared. When Hinata tried to point out that if he wanted to name the baby after her cousin he should have said so, Naruto objected strongly. He would have none of this. She had a cousin named Neji, he had asked, his eyes wide. What a coincidence! Naruto said that he hoped this cousin of hers – whom he was quite sure, he said, that he'd never met – would make a good role model for his son, because he couldn't go naming an Uzumaki after someone he didn't admire.

So little Neji grew up hearing two very different stories about his name. His father maintained, with a smile, that he simply liked the name, and that it as fitting a name for an Uzumaki as Naruto. His mother would smile and in his ear whisper that Naruto would never admit just how much he loved and admired her cousin, and that Neji was named after someone his father considered one of the bravest and strongest shinobi in the whole world.

Yume and Iruka soon got over their jealousy of baby Neji, learning that it was far better to use him to their advantage. Despite their young age, both were quite crafty, and they knew that the best thing to do with a bad situation was to turn it into a good one. And the best way to do _that_, was to train little Neji to be their accomplice. A junior member of their team, of course. Which meant having to do more for less gain. But hey, if he impressed them maybe they'd promote him. Maybe.

Hinata had been worried when she learned what exactly the self styled "Uzumaki Corps" were up to. Naruto had been amused, and a little proud. It was only right, he explained to his frowning wife, that the children of Uzumaki Naruto carry on his legacy of pranks. His former successor was now a respected ninja himself, after all, and Konohamaru couldn't be expected to remain the prince of pranks forever.

Naruto was glad though that he had been the last of the prankster line to be hated for it. The villagers might shake their fists and shout at his children, but he knew that they loved them. If only he'd been so lucky.

Sometimes he wondered if he and Hinata were going to stop having children. He knew that he didn't want to, but he wasn't sure how much more his wife could handle. He should have known better than to have doubted her though. Both of them wanted a big family. Both of them wanted their children to have more than they ever did.

And besides, how else were they supposed to start a new clan?

The fourth child was another girl, the spitting image of her mother. She didn't even have the whiskers that her brothers and sister did, which prompted another set of tests from her worried family. The tests confirmed that her chakra system was similar to her brothers and sister's, but still not the same. They were the definition of inconclusive. Hinata named her Hanako.

And time passed as the Uzumaki clan grew. Yume and Iruka entered the ninja academy together when Yume was seven. Iruka was a little young, but there was no way Naruto would separate the two, and there was equally no way that anyone would argue with the Hokage on this point. Neji was four, and already a valued member of the Uzumaki Corps. His pranking had become a legend in the young community, helped by the fact that he refused to tell anyone exactly how he'd managed to get hold of the sheep. Or the three tons of jelly. Little Hanako was two, and still learning to talk. She had the irritatingly cute habit of calling her siblings by little pet names. Yume had laughed for hours the first time Hanako had called her brother "Wuka", but fair was fair and Iruka had returned the favour when Hanako called her big sister "Yuuba".

At nights Hinata and Naruto would sit together, Hinata's head resting on her husband's shoulder, and just talk about their kids. About what Hanako had said to the different ninjas she'd met while sitting on her daddy's lap during his morning meetings. About how fast Yume and Iruka were growing up, and how they were already good ninjas. About Neji's latest prank, and how much they had secretly laughed. And about what the baby growing inside Hinata would be like, whether it would be a boy or a girl, and whether it would take after its father or mother. Naruto would say that he hoped for the latter, their kids were already too much like him. Hinata wouldn't say anything to that, just nuzzle her lover's blonde spikes and kiss him. He knew what she meant all the same.

The children were trained from birth, almost. Yume and Iruka had their father's unnatural stamina, so it had been necessary to do something with them just to stop the pair from running wild non-stop. Training was the first solution that came to Naruto, of course.

For years they just worked on their bodies, Naruto and Hinata making them run laps and lift weights and do push ups. And more interesting (to them) things such as climbing trees, swimming and practising with shuriken and kunai. It was good for tiring them out.

Hinata taught them to use their Byakugans. All of the Uzumaki children were born with the Hyuuga blood limit, and Naruto couldn't exactly teach them (in fact he still wasn't sure exactly what it did). Their "uncle" Neji helped out as well, eventually training them in the Hyuuga Gentle Fist. Neji took to it the best, in no small part because the older Neji doted on his little namesake and would teach him every chance he got.

Naruto would watch their practises with great interest, taking notes. He wouldn't have told anyone, but he was working on a secret project. He was examining the different training styles known, and looking at uniting them, combining them, working on new techniques that wouldn't be possible otherwise. He had even developed a few that he would hold back to teach his kids when they were ready.

When Yume was twelve and Iruka eleven he took them on a special trip into the woods. They would be graduating soon, and becoming official ninjas, and there were things they needed to know.

Hinata had told them years ago about the Kyuubi and the way it was sealed into him by the father he'd never known, but they'd never talked about what it meant.

The last thing he would ever want to do would be scare his beloved children. But he knew he had to show them.

He told them a story. A story about how he'd failed to graduate from the academy three times in a row. They'd heard this before many times from their parents and the rest of their extended family. They would all tell it slightly differently. Naruto spoke about how he had felt alone, and how it had seemed like the world was against him, but how everything had turned out alright in the end. Hinata told them about how their father had never given up even once, always looking forward. Neji had told them about what it meant to fight against fate, and how you could turn even the greatest of weaknesses into strengths no one would ever touch. And their aunt Sakura had told them how they were lucky not to be as useless and untalented as their father.

But this time Naruto told the story a little differently. He had been tricked, and had stolen the Forbidden Scroll. They'd both seen it before in his office, but never read it. And he'd come to the very spot where they were sitting, among the grass and the trees. He'd learned the forbidden technique, the Kage Bunshin. It was forbidden because it was incredibly dangerous for a child to use, and could easily kill them if they didn't have enough chakra or stamina.

But Naruto had also learned something else, he told them. He'd learned about the demon inside of him and why he was so hated. But he'd also learned about the strength one can have when protecting someone they love.

Yume and Iruka were wide eyed at this point. Naruto told them how their grandpa Iruka had saved him, and how in turn he'd used the Kage Bunshin and beaten their attacker. Iruka was proud to hear about his namesake's bravery, and Yume was amazed when her father told her how he'd created a thousand clones all at once.

But the story wasn't over. Naruto told them about the Kyuubi. Told them things they'd never heard before about how monstrous and powerful it was. And he told them about the powers it gave him.

Unlimited chakra, he said. As much as he could channel at any time at least. And claws and fangs like a fox. And the ability to heal from any wound. The kids didn't believe, but Naruto assured them. He told them not to be scared, and with the practised ease of decades he tapped into the store of power within him.

His eyes changed, becoming red and animal-like. His whiskers widened, and his teeth became sharp and pointed. He even grew claws from his hands. Yume took a step forward, edging slightly ahead of her younger brother.

Their father spoke. But it didn't sound like him. It was more guttural, and distorted by the fangs in his mouth. But his tone was that of love, and they trusted him. He rolled up his sleeve and took a kunai, slicing open the exposed flesh. For a moment blood spurted out, but then the wound healed before their eyes, not even leaving a mark.

And Naruto told his children, who seemed so young and yet so old, that they had this power as well. He didn't know how much they had, he didn't know exactly how they would access it, but it was within them all the same. And now that they were becoming Genin they needed to know about it.

When they got angry, he said, or when they needed to protect their loved ones, the power would be there for them to use. And it would change them like it changed him. They would have his claws and his power to heal. They would probably have the powers he had yet to show them as well. But he made it clear that they must never use them to hurt someone who did not deserve it or unless it was necessary.

They laughed, and told Naruto that he'd been saying that about everything since they had been born. And Naruto laughed too, and told them another reason why he'd brought them here. It was time for them to learn the Kage Bunshin, just as he had before he'd become a Genin.

They slept under the stars, all three together, dreaming of the future.

**Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews! Hee hee, I'm so happy now. As you can see, I decided to continue with the story. It's going to be a story about Naruto's children mostly, though this is really more like a second prologue than a real first chapter. It's called Legends of the Fox because it's about the different Foxes of the Leaf – the Kyuubi, Naruto and then his children, and all their legends. I don't think there'll be one main story but rather just a lot of different ones set in the same timeline. I'll probably write a story about Naruto and Gaara fighting together soon as well, since that was my original inspiration. The next chapter might not even have Naruto, Yume or any of the other characters in it! Though it probably will. I hope the change in style wasn't too bad, but I wanted to describe the whole family. **

**Please review! If you want to see what any particular character is up to, just ask and I'll work them in. As I said, what I'm going to do here is more like a series of short stories set in this particular timeline of the Naruto world, so if you want to hear about what Chouji is up to or how Kankurou fell in love or which of the rest of the Rookie Nine Plus Six got married and had kids of their own, just ask and I'll give it a shot. I've got a lot of it planned out, I just need an excuse to write about it, heh.**

**Thanks for reading, and see you soon!**


	3. Chapter 02

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Two: The Tired Sensei**

Udon pushed his glasses up and sighed.

Sigh.

He'd had a lot of students. He'd taught a lot of promising ninjas who'd gone on to be talented genins and chuunins and even jounins. But he'd never quite had a pair like the Uzumakis.

He knew their father, after all, so he shouldn't have expected them to be normal. But he'd always looked up to Naruto – as children with his best friends Naruto was their hero, the one they looked up to like a big brother. And as adults Naruto was the Hokage, the strongest and most respected ninja in the village.

But it wasn't like he could just give the Uzumaki kids a free pass. It might be understandable, but Udon wasn't like that. And Naruto had made it quite clear that he didn't want his children to be judged any different from the others. In fact he'd called Udon into his office the day he'd had Yume and Iruka enrolled, and told him exactly that.

But it was still hard to forget – they were the children of the Hokage after all.

"Alright," he said, clearing his throat. "Time for a little test. Everyone come here and transform into the Fifth Hokage-sama."

There were groans from the class. Henge wasn't a popular skill for kids to learn – they didn't think it was exciting enough. Which really meant that they didn't understand just how useful it could be. Udon filed this away inside his head as an idea for a future lesson – a lecture on the uses of the Henge no Jutsu in combat. Of course the groans were a little louder this time because of the subject he'd chosen. This was a test of their memories as well, because most of the people here had only ever read about the Fifth in their textbooks. Rokudaime-sama had been the Hokage since well before they were born.

As expected, the Uzumakis exchanged a glance, grinned and waited for their turn.

The other students did their best. Most did reasonably well, though few got Tsunade truly accurate. Of course that was in part due to a certain factor of embarrassment – the Fifth was rather well endowed, after all, and the children didn't want to seem like they were perverted. Another thing they'd have to study some more. Embarrassment had no place on the battlefield.

It came to the time for Iruka to try. But instead of the dark haired fox boy walking calmly to the front of the class he leapt out of his chair and somersaulted down. And instead of doing it alone, at the exact same time his blonde sister jumped as well.

Nodding at each other and grinning, as one they performed the seal and shouted "Henge!" There was a cloud of smoke obscuring the siblings, and when it cleared…

…on the right, a little girl with blonde hair in pigtails. On the right, an ancient looking woman with horribly wrinkled skin and the sagging remains of huge breasts.

"Ahem. Mind explaining yourselves to the class? Yume? Iruka?"

The little girl giggled, and in Iruka's voice said "This is what obaasan looks like after she's lost all her money, and…" the crone continued in Yume's high voice "…this is what she looks like when she doesn't think anyone can see!"

Another puff of smoke and the Uzumaki siblings were standing at the front of the classroom again, grinning their foxy grin as one. And together they said "You didn't say what form she had to be in!"

Udon smiled to himself, though on the outside he didn't change his appearance. There were no students quite like Yume and Iruka. They'd performed the Henge perfectly and in complete unison, quite a feat for mere children. And not only had the jutsu itself been perfect, they had chosen forms that they couldn't have seen nearly as many times as they had their grandmother's preferred age while still fulfilling the requirements of the test. In fact those forms were a better choice for them – it was no challenge for the pair to transform into their own grandmother after all. They'd looked underneath the underneath and done it with ease.

They were like that every day. They seemed to sleep through the classes but still picked up all the valuable skills they needed. They managed to have instinctive understandings of the complex uses and potential of various abilities while still understanding why there were taught at a basic level. They weren't the most physically adept of the class, but they were tireless and naturally talented all the same.

If only they'd listen to what he said and obey his instructions.

The chuunin sighed once more. "Well done Iruka, Yume, but you need to learn to obey instructions. On the battlefield it will be the difference between life and death. You pass the test, but I'd like to speak with you after class."

The two fox children exchanged another one of their mysterious glances and promptly went back to sleep at their desks. Ever since he'd first met them they'd shared their own special language. Yume could understand what Iruka was thinking just by looking at him, and the boy was no less adept at deciphering his sister's moods. Unfortunately for Udon, the secret code of the Uzumakis was a secret still. As far as he knew it could have meant "that was fun" or "crap, I told you not to do that" or even "we're having ramen tonight, right?"

If only they were like their cousin. Sazashi might be quiet, but he was at the top of the class (though so were Yume and Iruka, Udon reluctantly admitted) and he always did exactly what was required. He would make a far better ninja in Udon's opinion. But then no one had expected the Rokudaime to ever amount to anything when he was in the academy.

But for now it was important that genins know how to follow orders. If they didn't they'd never survive. At least that was what Udon thought, and that was a value he tried to teach to his students.

It didn't occur to him that that was why he never rose above chuunin, but then Udon was happy where he was. He truly enjoyed teaching.

He just wished those damned Uzumakis weren't so… so… infuriating!

He was glad that they'd be graduating soon – he had no doubt they'd do well just like their parents, but he would be glad to have some peace in his classroom for a change.

And once Yume and Iruka were gone, Udon was sure he would be having some peace…

… not far from there, in a different classroom, a different teacher was disturbed in the middle of a lecture by the sound of Uzumaki Neji laughing maniacally. Afterwards the young boy would swear he didn't know what had come over him…

Udon was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of giggling from the class. Immediately he snapped his head to look at the two Uzumaki children, but then appeared to still be resting at their desks. The chuunin looked over the rest of the class, but even his finely honed teacher senses could not detect who the troublemaker was. He snapped shut the book he had been reading aloud from and stared over his glasses at the students. This was a time-trusted technique guaranteed to root out troublemakers. It wasn't often he had to resort to it (partly because the troublemakers were normally easily identifiable by their white eyes and whiskers) but it had never failed.

Until now.

He could see no common factor. No notes had been passed. No one was acting up. Just giggles. And stares. And more giggles. Using his ninja training he instantly ascertained that there was nothing different about his appearance, so they couldn't be laughing at him. Which left one alternative.

He turned around. And yes, sure enough there was a picture on the board. It was of him… mostly. Someone had managed to draw a picture of Udon looking like Tsunade. Or at least wearing a blonde wig and with enormous breasts. It even had a speech bubble with Udonade saying "Listen to sensei children".

The moment Udon turned around the giggling burst into laughter across the class. And when Udon picked up the eraser and tried to wipe the picture away, the laughing just got harder. Not matter how hard Udon swiped the board the image wouldn't go away.

Sighing, he understood, and with a simple "Kai" dispelled the genjutsu, turning around in time to see another mysterious glance exchange between the Hokage's children. Only this one wasn't quite so mysterious – even Udon could understand the one that meant "good job sis!" And he also recognised the one that meant "oh crap, he spotted us" which followed the second they noticed him watching.

Bingo. He had them.

The next glance Yume and Iruka exchanged meant "we're screwed". How they wished they didn't need to use that one so often.

Just at that moment, the clock ticked over to three and class was over. The students dashed out at superhuman speeds, leaving Iruka and Yume to try and sink as far into their seats as possible.

Udon smiled. Oh how he savoured this feeling. He loved punishing the two fox children. Too many times they would win these little classroom battles, and he would be left to seethe inside. It wasn't petty of him to enjoy the victories, was it? But just as he was about to open his mouth, a shout came from outside.

"YUUUUUUUBA!!"

Iruka grinned at his sister, who glared back and mumbled something about killing the little runt.

Hanako poked her head into the classroom. "Yuuba, 'Ruka, daddy sent me to get you. Quick! Quick!"

"Sorry Udon-sensei," Yume said. "It looks like duty calls."

"We'll have to do this some other time," said her brother, with an expression that almost looked like regret. Almost. Iruka wasn't that good an actor.

So the two walked out of the class and left with their little sister. Who grinned her own foxy grin and told them to fork over the cash, or else.

**Author's Note: Well, here's the second chapter. A little short but as long as it needed to be. The nice reviews have really motivated me to write, this is my third chapter in two days! Don't know if I'll be able to keep up the pace.**

**For next chapter I'll be taking a look back in time at part of the downfall of the Akatsuki, as requested by TheOmegaFactor. It might take a little longer to write, since it'll be action rather than humour. That and I might be buying myself a nifty present tomorrow.**

**Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. Remember, reviews keep a writer happy and motivated *grins* And like I said last chapter, if you want to see something or someone then request it and I'll see what I can do.**


	4. Chapter 03

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Three: Fall of the Red Moon Part One**

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The sound was low and cold. Not a whisper, but just as quiet all the same.

The aforementioned teen was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor of the tiny room. He barely moved, his chest rising laboriously.

"Uzumaki Naruto. You are gravely injured."

Naruto's eyes opened slightly, and his lips curled in a weak smile. "I.." he coughed "I know.."

"Do not move."

What could almost have been a laugh came from Naruto's throat. "Is that… an order… Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara of the Sand sat in another corner of the cell, watching his blonde companion closely. His face was expressionless.

For a time there was silence. Naruto was the first to speak, though still slowly and painfully. "Gaara… have to… tell you something…"

"Save your strength, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ha…ha… call me Naruto… Akatsuki…"

"The people who captured me. And you? I do not know their goal."

"Me… either… But they need… us. I'm… like you."

Gaara's eyes flicked to the door and back to Naruto's prone form. "People like us… Naruto…?"

Naruto tried to smile. "Demons. You… Shukaku. Me… Kyuubi..."

"I see." The red haired Kazekage didn't seem to be affected by this news at all. He had thought something like that might be the case, based on what Naruto had told him when they had first met, and on how strong the blonde teen was. But all the same, it was shocking to hear it out in the open.

Gaara had never entertained the possibility that there might be someone else out there cursed in the same way as him. Still, no emotion showed on his face. It never did.

Inside, though, he was crying. Tears of joy or empathy, he couldn't say.

"Come… closer… Gaara."

The Kazekage edged towards Naruto carefully, making sure to still keep facing the door. He raised a hand out in front of him and paused for a moment before placing it on Naruto's shoulder. Just the tiny contact was enough for Gaara to feel bones that had been shattered inside the skin.

"Akatsuki… morons… They don't understand… strength… powers…"

"Do not speak, Naruto. You must save your strength."

Naruto coughed, and turned his head to face Gaara as much as he could. "Gaara… how did they… capture you?"

"I was caught off guard. I was forced to use all my strength to protect the people of my village. That is my duty as Kazekage of the Sand."

"Ex… exactly. Glad… you understand. But…"

"Don't speak. Your body must heal before we can escape."

Again Naruto laughed, even though the sound was twisted horribly and the effort cost him. "No… no escape."

"Do not speak like that. Together we will escape our captors and return to our homes."

"No… Akatsuki morons… They think we're… weak. Take away… sand… and think you're weak. Break… my bones and think I'm… helpless…"

"Which is why we shall escape their clutches."

Naruto tried to grin. "Gaara… how do you think… they caught me..?"

"You will fight to protect those precious to you. I assume you fell much like I did – protecting the village you love."

"Ha… ha… Close but no… kunai."

Naruto lifted his arm, broken and mashed though it was, and touched his limp hand to Gaara. And he held his blue eyes open and clear, staring back at Gaara's eyes.

"I… let them… capture me…"

Naruto closed his eyes, the pain so great he let out a tear. And he opened them again.

This time they were red. Naruto's blue orbs had changed. The pupils had elongated, becoming animal-like, and the colour was as different as could possibly be. The eyes of the Kyuubi.

Gaara jerked his hand up. For a second he felt something strange, and so he started. It was almost as if the bones were knitting themselves back together under his touch.

Naruto spoke again, this time without any pain or effort in his voice. "I told you, Akatsuki are morons. They didn't even know what the powers of the Kyuubi were. I've healed from worse wounds than this. Wouldn't have taken this long, but I had to do it slowly so no one could sense it. Poked a needle hole into the seal and bled out a tiny amount of power, then flowed it around my body before activating it."

"I see." Gaara said, smiling on the inside but static on the out. He was glad that his friend, for that was what he considered Naruto, was okay. He wasn't sure exactly what Naruto was talking about, but then he was sure that Naruto wouldn't understand some of the ways in which he used his demon's power.

"Now listen Gaara. There's just one thing I want you to remember."

Gaara looked unblinkingly at his friend. "Yes?"

"We're not their prisoners. They're the ones trapped with us."

Naruto grinned, and for once even Gaara smiled a little.

Far from there, another meeting was taking place, and more plans were being made.

They appeared to rest, all of them, within a large room. No one talked, and half of them looked asleep. The other half were reading, or sharpening kunai, or any number of meaningless activities. One in particular sat cross-legged, her eyes closed and murmuring something under her breath. Her name was Yamanaka Ino, and she was the reason they were so quiet.

Ino had her eyes closed because she was concentrating. And she was murmuring because it was part of the jutsu she was performing.

The Yamanaka family specialised in jutsus that affected the mind. The first one Ino had learned had given her the ability to enter the minds of others and possess their bodies. The second jutsu had let her cloud the minds of her foes and control their actions. This jutsu was not the third she'd learned, or even the fourth or fifth. It was something of her own design.

Ino weaved her own mind in and out of the minds of her friends, linking them all together. And together they came. Inside their collective minds, they sat all around a large table. It was round and gold, and each of their seats was marked with their clan symbol and their own personal sigil.

Ino had to stay quiet through this. After all, it was a very tiring process. But the others were free to talk. Completely free, because there was no possible way anyone could spy on them.

Sakura started. "As you know, Naruto has been kidnapped. But you don't all now the whole story behind this. I've only just found out, and I didn't think it was fair not to let you know.

"This is Naruto's story to tell, but he can't do it right now and you need to know. He may never forgive me for telling you, but if it helps save his life then I don't care."

There was a murmur around the table. Neji and Shikamaru were silent. Shikamaru had his head in his hands, and Neji was glaring. Not at anyone there, but the mind-room was distinctly lacking in Akatsuki members for him to glare at, so the Hyuuga was left to glare blindly into space.

Hinata looked scared. She didn't know what Sakura was going to tell them, but she knew that she loved Naruto and wished he were safe. And that she'd do whatever she could to save him, whatever the secret was.

"Okay. There's no easy way to say this. Naruto has been captured by an organisation called Akatsuki. You might remember that they attacked the village right after the Third's funeral." There were some nods from this.

"What you might not know is that they were after Naruto then too. Naruto has… something inside him that they want."

Hinata interrupted, her stutter returning for the first time in years. "W-w-what did they want with N-naruto-kun?"

"He…" Sakura's voice trailed off. This wasn't easy for her. She was having trouble coming to terms with the news herself as well. "He…" tears came to her eyes.

"Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside him." A languid voice filled the air. Shikamaru had not even looked up.

Kiba laughed. "Oh come on! We all know the Fourth killed the Kyuubi sixteen years ago! Not funny guys."

"Of course it isn't funny you idiot!" Sakura yelled, tears on her face. "Shut up you moron, I shouldn't have invited you here!"

"Sakura," Neji said softly. "Please calm yourself." To the others he spoke. "It is the truth. I was told as much when I became Jounin. Kiba, on what day was the Kyuubi defeated?"

Kiba looked up from glaring at Sakura to answer. "Easy, October 10th, same day as the festival. It'll be the seventeenth anniversary of its death this year."

"And Hinata-sama," Neji continued. "On what day was Naruto born?"

Hinata was hugging her head to herself, hiding her tears, but she answered. "Naruto will be seventeen… On the 10th of October."

Shikamaru was the one to continue this time, his voice raw. "The Fourth sealed the Kyuubi inside of a newborn baby boy. That boy grew up hated by everyone. That's why our parents always told us to stay away from Naruto, because he was that boy."

"But Naruto-kun is not hated by everyone!" The Leaf's Proud Azure Beast spoke up for the first time, pumping his hand into the air. "We are all his friends! And he needs our help!"

Lee jumped to his feet. "I will go and save our beloved friend. It is my Ninja Way! Who will come with me?!"

Hinata stood up, letting everyone see her tearstained face. They also saw the look of ultimate determination on her face. "I promise to save Naruto-kun. And it is my Ninja Way not to go back on my words."

Neji stood as well, though he said nothing. Inside he was remembering the words that Naruto told him after the fox boy had won their battle. There was no such thing as fate. Naruto could still be saved.

Kiba stood, saying there was no way he'd let that idiot die on him, glancing at Hinata as he did.

Shino was just as quiet as Neji. He didn't know Naruto well, but he would still fight to the death for him.

Chouji spoke about Naruto's love of ramen, and how he could never let a fellow gourmand down.

Ino stood silently, still maintaining the jutsu.

Tenten mentioned that she'd never spoken with Naruto, but she recognized his strength.

Kankurou and Temari stood up together, exchanging a glance. "Our brother has been captured as well," Temari explained. "He's the Kazekage because of two reasons. One, he has a demon inside him as well. And two, Naruto showed him the importance of love. We might be coming to save Gaara, but we'll never forget what Naruto has done for our family and our village."

Sakura smiled at her friends as she rose. "Tsunade-shishou would never forgive me if I didn't bring the idiot back in one piece. Besides, what would the Leaf do without its next Hokage?"

As one, they all turned to face the only one still sitting. Shikamaru sighed. "Oh of course I'm coming. But do I have to stand up?"

Temari smiled fiercely at the lazy ninja, and he shot to his feet. "Alright, alright! Now, sit down again," he slumped back into his chair. "We need to plan this out, if we want to actually rescue Naruto."

Again everyone looked at Shikamaru. And again he sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. Alright, this is what we'll do…"

At that exact moment, far away and deep below the earth, in the holding cell of the Akatsuki, the fully healed Naruto grinned at Gaara. "Alright, here's what we'll do…"

**Author's Note: Well, I said it would be back at the time of the Akatsuki, and it was. But then I also said it would be action and it wasn't - I guess the action part of the Fall of the Red Moon will have to wait. The next chapter will not be part two of this, but don't worry it'll come soon.**

**A SasuSaku chapter was requested, and a SasuSaku chapter shall be written. But I don't promise a happy ending, or even what you might expect. Mwahaha.**

**Once again, thank you for all the reviews and kind words. I guess I've jinxed it now and all I'll get from now on is flames, but I hope that's not true. So review review review. And remember, request something or someone you want to see and I'll try and work it in.**

**PS: Review. Wow, what a one-track mind I have. Oh, but it's so gratifying is all.**

**Later.**


	5. Chapter 04

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But dabbling is fun!

**Chapter Four: Blood Stained Child**

His hand reached out to touch her. His lost love.

She jerked away from him, and he pulled away. Sakura reached up to touch her face where Sasuke's hand had made contact. Her fingers came away wet, and she took another step backwards.

Sasuke smiled at her, and reached out his arm again. Blood dripped down from it to the ground, pooling there. The same blood that covered her face.

She'd never seen him smile before. Smirk, yes. Laugh, occasionally. But smile?

"Sakura. I told you years ago that I had two goals. To kill a certain someone and to revive my clan."

Sasuke, laughing wildly, turned around and gestured, the blood scattering from the speed at which he waved his arm around.

"And now I've finally done it! I killed him, he's dead! And now I can revive the clan. With you Sakura, with you!"

Sakura shivered even as she felt a slight blush. She looked past Sasuke at the body that lay behind him. Uchiha Itachi, former member of the shadowy organization called Akatsuki.

Akatsuki was no more; she'd seen that with her own two eyes. And now the love of her life was standing in front of her offering everything she'd ever wanted.

When she'd been twelve.

That was years ago, and Sakura had grown. She wasn't a love-struck little girl any more. She was a woman, and a shinobi to boot. She didn't need to rely on any boys to save her – she didn't want a prince charming any more.

And certainly not one who held her with arms still covered in his brother's blood.

"Sasuke, I… I…"

"Shush my love." Sasuke stared at her with his Sharingan eyes. "You don't have to say anything. I know how you feel – you told me, remember?"

Sakura remembered the day he meant. The day he'd left her – and the Leaf – behind.

She'd poured out her young heart, and he'd rejected her. He'd knocked her out and run away from everyone who cared about him.

She'd cried about that for days, clinging to her only hope – that Naruto would bring him back for her. But Naruto failed. She'd cried about that too. And then she'd resolved that she had to get stronger. Grow in strength and then bring him back herself.

And she became strong indeed. Trained personally by the Fifth Hokage. An incredibly skilled medic nin. A Jounin in her own right. Teamed with the future Hokage himself and the Leaf's Number One Technician. And she was no third wheel for that team, she proved herself essential to it more than once.

And what had Sasuke been doing? Training, just like her. But not training to save peoples lives. Not training to protect others. He trained for the sole reason of killing, of taking his revenge on his brother.

Sasuke had abandoned her and his village long ago. He had travelled to the land of the Sound, home of the ninjas who had orchestrated a devastating attack on the Leaf. The land ruled by the ninja who had also betrayed the Leaf many times over. Orochimaru, murderer of his own sensei – the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.

Sasuke had done that willingly. He had not been coerced or kidnapped. Leaf nins had been sent to bring him back, and he had attacked them.

From what Naruto had told her about that battle, Sasuke had fought to kill. And kill he would have done, had Naruto not had the ability to heal from wounds no one else in the world could.

And now she'd finally found Sasuke again after years of searching. But Sakura realised that something was wrong.

Sasuke was talking more than she'd ever seen him in the whole time they'd known each other. And he was smiling, laughing and energetically expressing himself. Uchiha Sasuke had spend his entire life from age 7 onwards working towards a singular goal. And now that he'd accomplished it, he was different. His mind didn't know what to feel or think. Sakura was suddenly very scared.

"Sasuke…kun. You are coming back to Konoha now, yes?"

"Of course!" he shouted. "Where else would I go? We've got to revive the Uchiha clan now, after all. Can't go doing that anywhere but Konoha, that would just be silly! You're so silly, Sakura."

Sakura pulled out a scroll and performed a few short seals. Together this activated a long distance communication jutsu. It was twinned with another scroll which belonged to Naruto, and would let her talk to him no matter how far apart they were.

In his office Naruto was waiting. He was incredibly bored. He had never really realised just how boring being Hokage could be if there was nothing to do. He couldn't just go off and complete a mission whenever he wanted to, after all. Not that he didn't get his share of excitement, but all the same he almost preferred his life before. And then he would look out the window and see the work being done on the Hokage Monument to carve his face into the rock. And he would see people wave to him and smile. Finally he had the recognition he'd craved so long.

He felt a slight surge of chakra and whirled around. Nothing, he thought, just a communication scroll.

Performing his own set of seals and touching a hand to the scroll, his mind was connected with Sakura's.

"Naruto," she thought. "I've found him."

"Sasuke?"

"Yes. He's… unwell. Itachi is dead, and now Sasuke is acting strangely."

"Is he coming back?"

"He wants to. Is he welcome, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. But under no circumstances are you to let him out of your sight until we can properly arrange the conditions of his rehabilitation. And Sakura… congratulations. I know you've been waiting a long time for this."

"I have… But… Never mind, I'll let you see for yourself. Haruno Sakura out."

Back in the woods Sakura looked up. Sasuke was standing over here with a confused expression on his face. "Who'ya talking to Sakura?"

"Naruto. I was asking him if it was okay to bring you back."

"Oh! How is the dobe? I've missed him a lot, you know. And of course I can come back – where else would I go?"

Sakura asked if they should bury Itachi, and for a moment Sasuke's new smile was twisted. His Sharingan eyes turned cold and began to spin, and Sakura could feel his chakra rising. "No," he growled. "Let the bastard rot there!"

"Sasuke," Sakura said softly, and he calmed down. "His body needs to be disposed of so that no one can steal the Sharingan. I'll leave some Kage Bunshins behind to do it, okay, and we can go back together." She moved her hand to his shoulder, almost shuddering.

"Okay… okay… that's a good idea. But I want to get home as soon as possible!"

Sasuke's blood specked face smiled like an innocent child, and Sakura had to stop herself from shivering.

The pink haired medic nin couldn't stop herself from looking over her shoulder as they walked back to the village. Sasuke seemed tired and was low on chakra, and Sakura wanted to conserve hers just in case she needed to fight the Uchiha teen.

Sakura just couldn't feel safe. Sasuke was disturbed, deadly and dangerous. He'd just defeated one of the strongest ninjas she knew of, and now he was acting like a child. Like a little kid, looking forward to going home and not caring about the past. Not like an eighteen year old man ninja. Sakura couldn't help but think about the past, and how often she'd wished Sasuke would open up more and show his feelings. She hadn't known then exactly how scary getting what she wished for could be.

They arrived at the gates of the village, and just before they could enter a huge cloud of smoke appeared from nowhere, and a cheerful voice boomed out from within "Welcome back!"

As the smoke cleared Sasuke and Sakura could see Naruto standing in front of the closed gates in his official Hokage robes. Around his neck was the necklace he'd received from Tsunade, something he normally kept hidden under his clothes.

"Naruto!" came the shout of joy from next to Sakura. "You really are the Hokage! I always knew you'd do it old friend, I never doubted it for a second."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stared at Sasuke like he had turned purpled and danced a jig upside down. "Ehhhhhhh? Sakura, are you sure you brought back the right guy?"

"Oh Naruto, always the joker. I've missed you so much."

Naruto said nothing, his face unchanged, but turned to look at Sakura. She nodded.

"Well, welcome back anyway ya bastard. But we'd better clean you up before you get inside the village. Wouldn't want you to scare the little children… anymore than usual, that is."

Naruto turned, saying something about getting some water, but then in a flash spun back around and whipped off a lightning-fast Suiton jutsu, the burst of water drenching Sasuke and removing all the caked blood.

"And now, we feast! To the Ichiraku, it's been too long since Team Seven has eaten there!"

They walked through the village, and Sakura noted how strange the experience was. When they were children they'd done the same so many times, and back then the people had glowered and glared and been scared of Naruto, while they'd waved and smiled at their precious Uchiha heir. Now the people loved and were proud of their Hokage, and Sasuke was an infamous missing-nin. The Sharingan eye brought back painful memories for the people, and Sasuke had yet to deactivate his blood limit.

Naruto always made sure to smile and wave back. Which is exactly what he'd always done to the people who told him he was a monster and wished he would die as a child. So it was nice to know that some things never changed.

All the same, Sakura had never thought that things could work out this way. Naruto as Hokage? Sasuke as a feared traitor? Never had she ever thought this would be what happened to her life. But then she'd never thought she would stop loving Sasuke either, and just look at how that had…

Sakura stopped suddenly. Had she just thought that? Did she not love Sasuke any more? He had always been her dream man, and he had just told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her. She should have been over the moon, not scared stiff.

"Yo!" Kakashi was sitting at the bar of the Ichiraku, waiting for them. Now Team Seven really was together again. Sasuke ran over and greeted Kakashi warmly, and Sakura knew that she really didn't love him. Not this confused man-child. Not this shadow of a seven year old boy, still crying because his parents were dead.

Naruto took the brief absence of Sasuke to pull Sakura aside. "Sasuke… he's not right."

"I know," she whispered. "He needs help. Psychiatric help. I'm a medic nin, I treat the body. I don't know how to help him. He… he scares me."

"Who do you recommend? Ino?"

"Ino-pig?! Well… she does know a lot about the human mind."

"And she can take care of herself, if something goes wrong."

"No she can't. You know that Naruto. The only ones who could beat him are you and me."

"She's good enough to survive. Give her that much credit."

"… Okay. If you say so, Hokage-sama."

"Don't give me that, Sakura-chan."

The two old friends grinned at each other and sat down with their old team mates for a good meal.

When it was done, and their bellies were full (or in Naruto's case, the bottomless pit was a little fuller) they went their separate ways. Sakura said she had to go to the hospital, and she did, but really she wanted desperately to leave. And Kakashi went off to do… whatever it was he did when no one was around. That left Naruto and Sasuke.

"So, bastard, there are a few more people who want to see you. In fact there's a little party going on – want to go?"

Sasuke grinned, and Naruto shuddered inside, but the two left together all the same.

**Author's Note: Well, another chapter down. Hope everyone enjoyed it.**

**SasuSaku was requested, and I hope I didn't disappoint. But just because it was requested didn't mean I could just go and change the pairings I'd already set, but this was an important story to tell anyway. Maybe someday I'll write the final battle between Sasuke and Itachi instead of just "cheating" with a blood soaked Sasuke.**

**As for his personality here – it's how I honestly think things would go. Sasuke used to be a perfectly normal seven-year-old boy. Okay, he was a ninja trainee, but normal otherwise. But then his brother kills his family and tells him to become an avenger, and everything goes wrong. His personality changes completely and he sets out on a bitter and twisted path. This is not the past or the actions of a sane mind. And he'll need to recover. It won't be easy and it might take the rest of his life, but he's not just suddenly going to become a happy and productive member of Leaf society.**

**Next chapter will be… well, I'm not entirely sure yet. Not the Fall of the Red Moon Part Two (suckers!). Probably something way more light hearted than the last two chapters. And I miss the Uzumaki kids, they're so cute! I should really let you guys know some of the other pairings and offspring as well, so expect some questions to be answered.**

**Anyway, you know the drill. Reviews so addictive, but oh so satisfying. Subliminal message: reviewreviewNarutoiscoolreviewreview**


	6. Chapter 05

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

I'm very sorry that I won't be posting the second part of the Akatsuki story, but I really want to tell some other stories before going back to it…

...suckers!

**Chapter Five: Fall of the Red Moon Part Two**

_Last chapter we saw Naruto being thrown into the Akatsuki cell occupied by the Kazekage Gaara. His body was horribly damaged, nearly all of his bones broken, but he revealed to Gaara their common affliction, and also that the Kyuubi allows him to heal from any wound. Now healed, he told Gaara that he let himself be captured on purpose._

_In Konoha, the friends and family of Naruto and Gaara plan a rescue attempt in secret, having sworn to do anything to save the pair of demon vessels._

"Uzu… Naruto. Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course not. But we'll never know until we try, man."

Gaara was sitting by the prone form of Naruto, his hands in a seal. He was regulating the flow of his chakra throughout his body in preparation. They had to be careful – if they moulded too much chakra at any one time the members of Akatsuki still in their underground base would become aware of their plan.

The plan revolved around the sheer stupidity of the shadowy missing-nin organization. Although stupidity was not quite the right word – more like arrogance. They thought that the two were helpless. They'd taken away Gaara's sand – thinking that without it he had no power, and they had broken Naruto's body, not knowing he had the power of healing.

Arrogance. It'd be their downfall.

Team Save Naruto, as they certainly did not refer to themselves, were meanwhile on the march. They also knew that the Akatsuki had made a mistake, though it was a different one. Sakura had told the group about Naruto's curse seal, which held the Kyuubi. But she'd also told them about another seal.

Naruto loved the Leaf more than life itself. And he wanted that to be clear. At first he'd considered a tattoo, but then other possibilities occurred to him. He knew about seals intimately. There was Neji's Caged Bird seal, which had been explained to him at length. There was the Curse Seal of Orochimaru, which he'd seen and fought against many times. And Tsunade's Genesis Reborn seal, which he hadn't seen in action but had heard about many a time from Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and Sakura herself.

Naruto was, in part, motivated by the fact that the Kyuubi seal had done him far more harm than good. He wanted a seal that would actually help him.

It was on his forehead, under the head protector which named him a proud shinobi of the Leaf. But if he took that headband off, you'd still be able to tell his allegiance. The seal was in the shape of the Konoha sigil – a spiral leaf. It wasn't always fully visible – just when he used it – but it was very powerful.

Tsunade's seal worked by storing up vast amounts of chakra, which when released would regenerate the entire body. It was the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu. But Naruto had no need for healing powers, so his seal worked a little differently.

Sakura explained that one of its powers was to let anyone who knew the correct jutsu locate Naruto wherever he was. Grinning, she said that he'd taught it to her.

Once every three days a member of the Akatsuki would check up on the prisoners, giving them food and water if necessary. On the second day that Naruto was in their cell, one of them entered the little room. She was tall – almost as big as Jiraiya – and clothed in the traditional Akatsuki red-cloud cloak. All that could be seen of her was her head, every inch of which was covered in light brown hairs.

She didn't even register the presence of Gaara, as if she didn't think he was worth any time. Instead she focused on Naruto, checking to see if he was still alive. Satisfied that he would live to see the next day she dropped a package to the ground and moved towards Gaara. She quite looked forward to the regular beatings they gave him.

That was when they struck. The missing-nin felt something she couldn't sense or see grab her by the arm and pull with incredible strength. This unbalanced her enough that she didn't even have time to prepare for what came next, as a tiny razor of sand slit her throat, spilling her lifeblood.

In a flash Naruto was on his feet as if he'd never been hurt to begin with, and in another he and Gaara were out of the room and on their way to the next part of the plan. "One down," smiled Naruto. "Eight to go!"

Gaara gestured for Naruto to follow him, as he suddenly broke off at a run in a very particular direction. The fox boy performed a series of handseals in a blur of orange and black motion, and split into five copies.

Behind them, in the cell, the body of the Akatsuki woman jerked and jolted as if possessed. Her head was practically hanging off, and blood had pooled around her, but something continued moving the body. It's torso pulled upwards, and the cloak fell to the ground. The head lolled about as the corpse's distended stomach expanded even further before ripping open gorily. A clawed hand emerged from inside the flesh of the woman's stomach, and tore open a way out.

Its fur was matted wet with blood and guts, and it stood maybe two feet tall. All the same, chakra poured off it in incredible levels, and it roared with rage. It had the features of an animal, and sniffed at the air. But before it could chase after the escaping ninjas, a white ball of spinning chakra seemingly appeared from nowhere and plunged through its gut. And just like its "parent", the creature died. The light sound of chuckling could almost be heard.

A distance away Naruto perked his head up and smiled grimly. "I dealt with the surprise she left behind," he quietly told his companion. Gaara had stopped their movements, sensing they were close to their objective. Their chakra was almost completely suppressed, but the remaining Akatsuki members had to be aware of their escape by then, and at least one of the missing-nins was dead ahead of the two demon vessels.

If he was aware of their presence, he hadn't acted on it. Naruto whispered to Gaara "You concentrate on the mission. I'll distract this guy."

"You're sure?"

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?!"

Naruto leapt forward out of the shadows, cocky expression on his face. "Hey loser! Come out here so I can kick your butt!"

"Hoho, I knew you'd escape." A large man came out the shadows wearing the same Akatsuki cloak as the others. But this one was also covered with what looked like a venus flytrap around his head and shoulders. "I saw your fight with Itachi's little brother. I know what you can do, freak."

"Oh, I'm the freak?" Naruto asked, a wild look in his eyes and Rasengan spinning in his hand. "I guess you jerks don't have mirrors down here, huh?" The Leaf nin dashed forward in a streak of orange, chakra almost visibly glowing around him. "'Cause you know, I know I wouldn't go around calling people freaks when I had a plant growing out of my ass." As Naruto got closer the plant man made no apparent effort to defend himself, but just as Naruto was about five feet away a vine burst from the stone underneath their feet directly in Naruto's path.

In an instant Naruto leapt upwards and dispelled the Rasengan he had spinning, revealing a kunai he'd been holding all along. He threw it, slicing into the flesh of the colossal flytrap, making it leak green sap-like ooze and the Akatsuki member groan in what might have been pain. "But then, you know, I'm a nice guy."

The man reached for Naruto with an arm, but somehow the fox boy managed to dodge it in mid air, landing on the vines. Naruto only meant to cling there with chakra for a second, but instead tiny shoots surrounded his feet and wrapped around his ankles. He was stuck. Looking back at his opponent he saw that the man had formed a seal with his other hand.

"Hohoho. You almost managed to hurt me there, kid. Too bad it had to end so soon."

With a blur of seals the ninja pulled a tooth from the flytrap. It extended into a sharp wooden spear and he advanced on the trapped Naruto. "Kid, you better start transforming if you wanna live through this!"

His dark eyes filled with hate, the plant ninja thrust his spear straight through Naruto's heart. The teen's mouth formed some inaudible words and blood poured down from it. Naruto's head froze in an expression of shock and then fell forward.

"Crap," said the cloak wearing ninja. "I really thought he'd survive that."

Naruto's head popped up. "Good guess!" he said just before bursting into smoke.

From behind him three Narutos jumped the man, kicking him into the air. A fourth was already there, forming a Rasengan to drive into him. But the flytrap closed over the man's face, protecting him at the last second. "Sheesh man, I thought you said you saw me fight? Everyone knows the Kage Bunshin is my favourite move."

"Noted," came the muffled sound from within the chakra scorched shell. His hands moved to form more seals when suddenly he was impaled on his own spear, apparently floating in mid air.

"Or at least it was. Three years ago. God you guys are morons," the Narutos intoned as one.

"You're… the moron, if you think I can be killed… by my own weapon!" The missing-nin's hands blurred in the seals he had been about to perform, causing thorny roots to plunge up at the feet of all the Narutos, bursting the clones in an instant. Advancing slowly forward, the injured plant user began to form the long series of seals for his ultimate jutsu.

This left just one Naruto left - the real one. "Oh I don't expect it to kill you," he said, "That's why I attached the exploding notes."

Eyes widening in fear, he interrupted his movements and grabbed the spear, coating it with chakra. Only to be knocked down by an invisible fist. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Sucker." Naruto grimaced. "Now die." He formed one last Rasengan. But before he could plunge it into his enemy, sand snaked out and coated the fallen ninja.

"Desert Funeral," said Gaara coldly. He followed it with "Two down."

"Seven to go!" grinned Naruto. "But you know, I could have handled him alone."

"I know," replied Gaara. "But I've been a prisoner here for over a month. These people killed people of my village, and in capturing me have put them all in even greater danger."

"Oh, you were just excited to have your sand back, ya big baby. Congratulations on a mission well accomplished, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara had explained to Naruto back in the cell that while he could create new sand from the ground of the cave, once they were outside of the seal-enforced cell, he needed to regain his personal supply of "special" sand, which was formed from his own chakra over years. In his month in the cell he'd managed to form enough for a small blade, but he couldn't go attacking Akatsuki with just that much. Luckily he had been able to sense all along that there was a supply of his sand that had been stripped from within the cave system. Another case of the arrogance of the Akatsuki.

"It was an honour, Hokage-sama."

Naruto pouted. "Hey, I'm not the Hokage. Yet."

"I do not care what your official rank is." Gaara said calmly.

"Good. Because I'm officially a Genin."

The tanuki teen stared at his friend. And didn't seem to be stopping. Nearly a minute later, he barked out a short laugh. "Very humorous Naruto."

"Yeah yeah." Naruto didn't seem amused. "Now let's go, we've got ninjas to kill and a world to save!"

Meanwhile, Team Save Naruto (and Gaara) was closing in on the location of Akatsuki's base. Thanks to the technique Naruto had bestowed on Sakura they knew the distance and direction, but finding the entrance was another story. Akatsuki were some of the most powerful ninjas on the planet, after all. Any base of theirs would not be easy to find.

Luckily they hadn't counted on the four things working in the favour of Team Save Naruto.

One, the seal on Naruto's forehead, which could be located remotely by anyone given the ability by Naruto. There were two very special jutsus that used it – the first being performed by Naruto. He needed some of the blood of the person he was granting permission, which he would mix with his own and infuse with chakra, smear over the seal and then perform said technique. The second also required blood, but just that of the person needing to find him.

Two, the Byakugan eyes possessed by Hinata and Neji. They could see through almost any barrier, and also see chakra flows. Together no one could escape their sight.

Three, the bugs of Shino and the nose of Kiba, both of which could find traces of human life anywhere it had been. The paths of people moving through the forests were clear to the pair of promising hunter-nins, and their canine companion Akamaru.

And four, the sheer genius of Nara Shikamaru. The others told him what they sensed and saw, and he sighed and sat down for a minute. Then he just walked a few feet, marked a spot with a kunai and announced, "It's here. Sakura, Hinata, dispel the Genjutsu."

They knew better than to argue with him. Sakura was a natural genjutsu expert, and Hinata had been training for over three years under Kurenai – possibly the Leaf's greatest expert on the subject.

The thing working in their favour was this – all of the Akatsuki had to be able to find the entrance. There were no doubt several members whose genjutsu skill far, far surpassed that of the two kunoichi, but there were also certain to be members who were a lot worse. And they all had to be able to get in if they had to.

Sometimes the worst design is the best one, thought Shikamaru.

"..yeah," came a voice from above them. "Yeah, good job spotting it."

A woman riding an unreal looking bird spoke to the Leaf nins.

"Yeah, you kids should just run along before I, yeah, kill you."

Shikamaru smirked. "Do it."

Deidara moved her right hand to the pouch on her belt, but found her arm caught by a sharp wire.

"Kamaitachi!"

An incredible gust of wind blew the Stone-nin into the air. If her now-destroyed construct hadn't taken the brunt of the blow she might have been seriously injured. As it was, the wire had sliced through her cloak before she could snap it.

"KONOHA SENPUU!!"

A green blur impacted with her at incredible speed, hitting her weak left arm, and then before she could react or land it was below her again, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground. She felt some of her bones snap from the two successive impacts.

Deidara sprang to her feet all the same, and managed to summon a single explosive bird before the next attack came. A black haired ninja clothed in white, his hands moving faster than even her eyes could follow. She didn't feel any great pain from his attacks, but with each one she felt her chakra system fail. With her last effort she activated the construct and sent it flying towards her attacker.

Another gust of wind came, blowing the explosive back to her. With her last moments before the explosion, Deidara could see now it came from a fan-wielding Sand kunoichi.

She died almost instantly.

Temari smiled in a way Shikamaru remembered all to well. "Bitch. Shouldn't have attacked my family."

Shikamaru smirked again, allowing himself a brief feeling of pride. As if anyone could sneak up on their group. But then he remembered that the Stone kunoichi was not alone.

This one was Kankurou's opponent, the puppet wielder had declared. But Shikamaru had reminded him of exactly how well that had turned out the last time.

Sasori of the Red Sands towered over the Leaf and Sand teenagers, his tail and mechanical body fully revealed. Kankurou stepped forward and summoned his three puppets.

"You. I thought I killed you," said the scorpion man. "I am the son of the fifth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand. I am the brother of the sixth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand. I don't die that easily," replied Kankurou.

"And I see you repaired your little friends. Tell me, what makes you think you'll be able to win this time?"

"Because he isn't alone!" The shout came from behind Sasori, far louder than any human voice could normally be. Aikimichi Chouji had activated his Multi-Size no Jutsu, growing to gigantic proportions.

The Leaf nin grabbed Sasori's tail, grappling it and preventing Sasori from properly controlling it. But it was too long, and the point pierced the boy's clothes and skin, poisoning him. It took a supreme effort to stay holding on, but Chouji managed long enough for Kankurou to make his own attack.

The three puppets rushed towards the man who had created them, controlled by strings of chakra coming from the hooded ninja's fingertips. But even with his movements restricted Sasori was still a master ninja and knew the puppets design intimately. He dodged some of the attacks and let others impact with the mechanical parts of his body where they caused no damage. And with his immense strength he dragged himself and Chouji forward towards Kankurou.

As soon as Sasori felt he was within range, he spat out a gulp of acid, melting the mechanisms of one of the puppets and threw a poisoned shuriken at the other Sand nin.

Kankurou nearly dodged, but the blade just nicked his cheek and for the second time in as many months he felt Sasori's poison flow through him. He refused to collapse though. But willpower would only go so far, as Chouji proved when he fell down unconscious, reverting to his normal size. Sasori's tail was freed, and he brought the blade down to Kankurou.

"Kid, thanks for the fight. It was fun this time as well. But now I have to make sure you die." Sasori flexed, willing his tail to flick and slice the boy's throat.

Nothing happened.

"Shadow Copy no Jutsu… complete."

Nara Shikamaru stepped forward from out of the shade of a nearby tree, and Sasori's form jerked forcedly into facing him.

"Now, before we kill you, tell me how many of you Akatsuki idiots are hanging around at the moment?"

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Ino?" Shikamaru called. A pretty blonde girl emerged and stood facing Sasori. She slowly performed a complex set of seals, and slumped into a trance. Sasori's eyes became vacant and his jaw slacked open.

Kiba stood beside Ino, holding her upright, and Shino stood on her other side, bugs crawling on his skin.

Minutes later Ino shocked awake with a gasp, and Sasori cried out curses at her.

"Ino," Shikamaru asked. "What did you find?"

"There should be five Akatsuki members in the base. These two were returning after a mission when they caught us, and the one called Kisame is on a mission in the Water country with… Sasuke-kun's brother."

"They always work in pairs, though, so why five?"

"One of them is the leader."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "SAKURA!" he shouted. "Chouji and Kankurou need healing. Hinata can handle the genjutsu." He and Sasori, still stuck in his jutsu, turned back to Ino. "What about Naruto and Gaara?"

"They should be confined in a special cell underground. Apparently Naruto has been… beaten half to death."

"Relax Ino, there's no wound bad enough that Naruto couldn't heal himself in seconds."

"WHAT?!" came Sasori's voice. "The Kyuubi brat can do what?!"

"Oh, you're still here? Someone kill him."

At that Kankurou dragged himself back up to his feet and tried to restore control over his puppets. But Shino stopped him. "I will do it. Save your strength."

Sasori could almost be considered lucky – he managed to see something very, very few people ever did – the sight of a visibly angry Aburame Shino. His Destruction Bugs descended on the missing-nin in a huge, black and buzzing cloud, and devoured the human portions of Sasori in seconds. Turning back to face his friends, Shino offered the words "I hate scorpions" as explanation. He would say nothing else on the subject.

Sakura had an aura of chakra around her hands, exploring the bodies of Chouji and Kankurou. The latter was easy – she'd performed the same procedure on him at a much later stage only a month ago, but the former was difficult. When Chouji's size changing jutsu was dispelled, the poison in his body was instantly spread much further than it would in its natural course after only that time. He was in a great deal of pain, his flesh burning. Still, Sakura was not the prized student of the Godaime Hokage for nothing, and in just minutes Chouji's breathing slowed to normal and the healthy colour returned to his skin.

Sakura sighed in relief and wiped sweat off her forehead. She and the others all took one of their soldier pills – the fights had taken a great deal of energy. Truthfully Sakura was probably the strongest one there, but she had been ordered by Shikamaru to stay in reserve for healing. A wise decision, as it turned out.

"I'm done here guys – they'll be okay soon. Which is good, because the longer it is before Tsunade-shishou discovers what we've done the better."

On learning that Naruto had been captured, Tsunade had been adamant in telling Sakura that neither she nor any of his other friends would be mounting a rescue attempt. At least not without serious backup. Sakura just couldn't wait that long. Not after finding out why Akatsuki wanted Naruto in the first place.

What Sakura didn't know was that both Tsunade and Jiraiya knew full well that Naruto had allowed himself to be captured on purpose so as to infiltrate their base. They were every bit as concerned and frightened as the pink haired girl was – probably more, in fact.

After a moments rest Sakura performed the location jutsu again, just to check Naruto was still alive. Her first response was relief, because it worked. Her second was surprise. "He's moving!"

Shikamaru immediately snapped back into focus and started talking to Sakura. "Naruto is moving?"

"Yes!" She answered. "I couldn't feel it before, but now that we're so close – he's definitely moving around. But Ino said he was supposed to be in a cell, right?"

"Hmm." Shikamaru thought about this for a second. "We need to move, now. There's no more time to waste."

"What? But he's clearly escaped!" Sakura cried.

"We don't know that. Akatsuki could be about to… utilise him." Shikamaru spoke grimly.

"Yosh! Naruto will have escaped!" Said Lee, triumphantly. "I would expect nothing less of him!"

"What about Gaara?" asked the concerned Temari. She and Kankurou looked at each other.

"I don't know," Sakura told her truthfully. "I can only tell where Naruto is, not anything else."

Gaara was in fact still with Naruto. Having recovered his sand, and formed it into a new gourd, he was ready for battle. He might not be at 100%, but this time he had no one to worry about. Naruto could handle himself.

There was one major chakra signal that they could sense, and suppressing their own power they headed towards it. Naruto formed a few more Kage Bunshins and some Hi Bunshins as well. The latter were an invention of his, he'd explained to Gaara. Regular Bunshins had form but no solidity. Kage Bunshins had both form and solidity. Hi Bunshins were an extrapolation of his, combining elements from both of the other jutsus. It was effectively an inversion of the Bunshin no Jutsu – a clone that was solid and could fight, but was invisible. Jiraiya had made Naruto study the differences between Bunshins and Kage Bunshins as a way of discovering why Naruto had never been able to perform the jutsu correctly as a child.

Hi Bunshin were very useful. They took a lot more chakra than the Kage Bunshin, and invisibility wasn't that much help once someone knew to expect it, but it added an extra level of protection. But it wasn't like Naruto really had to worry about running out of chakra in the same way as other ninjas. Even without the Kyuubi's near-infinite supply of power Naruto had more chakra than just about any normal ninja on the planet.

Heading towards the chakra signal Naruto gave orders to his Hi Bunshin to spread out and keep quiet until he needed them, just like with the two previous Akatsuki members.

It was strange. As they moved Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of his friends and companions from the Leaf. A few times he even swore he could sense them somewhere nearby, though he knew that was impossible. Or was it? Naruto moved a little bit of chakra to his forehead, and sure enough the seal had been activated – and not just by himself.

The seal might come in handy when someone was looking for him, but that wasn't its main purpose at all. No, it was designed to do something very different. Like Tsunade's, it stored chakra. But unlike hers, it stored a very set pattern of it. A jutsu. Whatever jutsu Naruto wanted, as long as he performed it in advance and added the handseals that would transfer it to the seal. Once there he could activate it purely by thinking – not even needing any chakra.

But the seal could only hold so much chakra, which meant only so many jutsus at a time. Naruto had stored Hi Bunshin and Kage Bunshin in there – but only a few of each. They were his emergency protection. He'd already used a couple of the Hi Bunshin in the escape – the special cell of Akatsuki prevented prisoners from performing jutsus while inside by emitting a radiation that disrupted chakra control, but it had no effect on pre-prepared techniques. That was how he had caught the woman by surprise and escaped. It had been all he could do for the Hi Bunshin to perform a low-level Rasengan and finish her off – nothing that would have destroyed the thick, stone walls.

Naruto called out to Gaara. "There are people here looking for us. Probably a rescue party."

"I am aware of this fact," said Gaara. "I sensed both my brother and sister. I assumed you knew."

The pair of demon vessels were close to their target. They entered a huge chamber, and at the centre of it was a colossal stone throne. On that throne sat a young man – he looked to be in his late teens at most.

"Well well well, you finally grace us with your presence," he said calmly and with a hint of mirth in his tone. Lazily he snapped his fingers, and at his side appeared two other ninjas. One wore a slashed headband of the Hidden Rain, and the other the Stone. The missing-nin from the Rain was very tall and impossibly thin, while the ninja from the Stone was almost small in stature.

Gaara and Naruto noted the eyes of the man on the throne as he looked at them. They were cold and cruel, and they were not human. Red, and filled with concentric circles, they emitted an intense feeling of inhumanity. He spoke, and his teeth were sharpened. "Kazekage-sama. Uzumaki-kun. Welcome to my home. I am the Akatsuki.

"Oh, I know what you think – so were all those others, and you've already worked your way through two of them. They were not Akatsuki. They were servants, nothing less. I am the Red Moon. And you are my brothers."

Naruto and Gaara moved to attack at those words. They had been found, they were outnumbered, there was no reason to hold back anymore.

"Stop!" the young man called out. "You don't understand. You are my brothers. I have nothing but love for you." Despite the words, there was no emotion in his voice whatsoever. Not even the slightest trace.

He stood. And he summoned his chakra. The two companions could almost see the image behind him. And deep inside they recognized him intimately.

Fangs, claws and wings. Dark black skin and eyes that glowed a sinister red. And a form as large as a mountain.

"Yes! You understand. I knew you would. My brothers, you and I are exactly the same."

He smiled, baring a full set of sharp teeth. "We are demons."

**Author's Note – yes, sorry, there will be a Part Three. However that will be the last part of this story I'm happy to say. **

**I'm hoping desperately that you guys liked this one. I know full well I'm not all that good at action, so writing this was a bit of a challenge. On the other hand, while the challenge is nice failing is not. So I hope this was okay, and not too much of a disappointment. **

**Yes, there are inconsistencies with the manga plot. These are for the most part my writer's prerogative – just the way I wanted to tell the story. I have tried to stay as true to the series as possible though. Remember there's been a timeskip, so people are stronger and have more jutsus than before, some of which I have made up. But I tried not to make them too powerful or out of line.**

**I wrote a big long explanation of the fights and so on, but it was going on forever so I hit delete. So just remember that everything happened for a reason and I can justify it if I have to. :p**

**Anyway, please review! You guys know by now how much I love that.**

**Going away for a few days either tomorrow or the day after, so I don't know when the next update will come. It probably won't be Part Three, since that will no doubt prove just as exhausting to write as this one did, and I probably won't be at home when I write the next chapter or more.**

**Phew, and to think I said this fic would have all short chapters. This isn't huge, but it's not short by any definition.**

**So to reward my effort, I recommend an immediate course of reviewing. Remember, suggestions will be honoured as best as they can. On that note, expect some information on who ended up with whom in the next non-Red Moon chapter. **

**PS: Review.**


	7. Chapter 06

**The Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But dabbling is fun!

**Chapter Six: Unions**

One reason that the Uzumaki clan are so famous and powerful is the existence of more than one blood limit within their family line.

Uzumaki Naruto was the vessel for the Kyuubi, the great Nine Tailed demon of legend. It is said that each of his nine children inherited a single tail of the Kyuubi's power. With that power came many gifts, but chiefly the power of healing and chakra. And each of their children in turn inherited the power of the Fox. This is the first blood limit of the Uzumaki.

From their mother the Uzumaki children also inherited the Hyuuga's bloodline – the legendary Byakugan. The power to see everything. This is the second of the Uzumaki's blood limits.

And as the children of the clan grew older and in turn married, they brought into the clan other skills and bloodlines. With a family line featuring four Hokages, and being the most respected clan in the Leaf, it would have been disrespectful for anyone to insist on an Uzumaki marrying into their clan.

But before it even formally existed, exactly that issue was a problem for the Uzumaki clan.

"No, absolutely not. This is unacceptable. My daughter must marry some one of her own station."

The speaker was one Hyuuga Hiashi, leader of the Hyuuga clan. Perhaps the second most powerful man in the village, in terms of political power. Not that his personal strength as a ninja should be underestimated, because Hiashi was one of the Leaf's most powerful warriors.

"Hello? Hokage? How am I not 'of her station'?"

Of course this would have been more impressive if he hadn't been arguing with one Uzumaki Naruto – the most powerful man in the village by whatever definition you wanted to use.

Two days before, Hyuuga Hinata – Hiashi's firstborn daughter – had been formally recognized as the Hyuuga Heir by Hiashi and the clan elders. This was quite the feat, considering just seven years ago she had been all but disowned and the title given to her five years younger sister, Hanabi. But Hinata didn't give up, and had worked and trained hard for years so she could take her place at the head of the clan that had abused her for years.

One day before the argument, Hinata had respectfully told the clan to stick their title up their collective posteriors. And confidently the young woman had walked out and asked her boyfriend to marry her.

That boyfriend was Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage, which brings us to the present. Naruto went to ask Hiashi for his blessing. The older man was a little reluctant.

"That's the problem, Hokage-sama. If my daughter were to marry you, she'd have to marry into your family – the Hokage simply cannot marry into someone else's."

"…And? How is that a problem?"

"Despite her unfortunate outburst yesterday, Hinata is the heir to this clan. She must remain part of it if she is to take her rightful position."

"Oh. Well, if I must say so, that's a pretty damn stupid reason.

"Look Hiashi – I love Hinata. And while I might question her taste on this issue, she loves me too. That's the end of the story. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop us from getting married. In case you're forgetting, I don't just outrank your daughter – I outrank you as well. And I'm not leaving this room until you give us your blessing. For some reason it means a lot to Hinata."

"Only if your children, should they possess the Byakugan, be made part of the clan."

"No deal. My family will be my family. If you ever want to see your grandchildren then you'll agree."

There are many levels of chakra control.

There are those who have levels of chakra so low that they are barely noticeable, even without any control.

There are those who have a reasonable amount of chakra but don't know how to control it. They are very easy to sense, but to any decent ninja will pose no threat.

There are those who have a reasonable amount of chakra but excellent control – hard to sense, and potentially very dangerous.

There are those who have large amounts of chakra and poor control. Being around them can be imposing, as any ninja will be able to see just how powerful they are. However without control chakra cannot be used effectively.

There are also those who have the best of both worlds – lots of chakra and excellent control. They are the most dangerous of all. There is a confidence to them that can be frightening. Someone like this will often deliberately allow their chakra to be sensed – this will tell their opponents how powerful they are but also show that is no flaw to their control. Controlled chakra feels very different to uncontrolled.

And then there was Naruto. He had more chakra than anyone else on the planet. This was not speculation or hyperbole. This was fact. His control was not perfect. It could never be. But it was still better than 99 percent of the ninjas out there.

Right then Hiashi could feel Naruto's power, just below the surface. Coiled tightly like a deadly snake. It was one hell of bargaining chip.

"You fight a hard bargain Uzumaki-sama."

"It helps when you hold all the cards," Naruto said, nodding his head slightly at Hiashi.

"So it does." Hiashi could feel the sweat on his temples as Naruto's aura subsided slightly.

"Very well, I give my blessing to your union with my daughter. May you be good to her."

"If there were ever anything you didn't have to worry about it'd be that."

"I know. For the record Rokudaime – Naruto – I've known that Hinata loved you since she was a child." Naruto smiled. "I've always thought you would be a good husband for her."

Naruto snorted. "Since when?"

"Since you brought my nephew back to us. In one battle you did more good for him than anyone else ever had."

Naruto grinned. "Well, Neji's a great guy. I'll see you at the wedding, Hiashi."

Hiashi coughed. "We do, of course, have a meeting on Tuesday, Hokage-sama."

"…Dammit."

And so Naruto left the Hyuuga Mansion, whistling a tune of joy. Hinata was waiting for him outside, and without a word he swept her into his arms. They walked through the village like that together. The people were happy to see the grin on their beloved Hokage's face was even wider than usual.

Once a week the ninjas once known as the Rookie Nine (plus three) would get together to do something. Anything. It wasn't important what they did but just that they made the effort to stay together.

Schedules could be difficult. Often at least one of them was out of the village on a mission. But then Naruto was Hokage, and he would sometimes tweak schedules ever so slightly to make the arrangements.

They had a few rules. Outsiders weren't allowed (with the exception of the Sand Siblings, who were honorary members). That was one rule that often chafed at Kiba, who could never bring his dates. It wasn't fair, he said, on those of them who dated outside the circle. No one else seemed to care.

Another rule was that they never brought up the six years that Sasuke had spent outside the village. It wasn't that they didn't think they could joke about it – it was that Ino had threatened to kill anyone who endangered Sasuke's mental recovery. That rule had once been that they weren't to bring up Sasuke at all (a rule which had been broken many a time, since it was an endless source of amusement for the others to see Naruto, Sakura and Ino automatically descend into a cloud of gloom) but since his return changes had needed to have been made.

The final rule was that they were all equals. Even when both the Kazekage and the Hokage were regular attendees the pair of demon vessels would tolerate no deference to them due to rank. Not on those nights.

That night the group was there to celebrate Naruto and Hinata's engagement. Naruto had hired out an entire restaurant for the night, and invited the Sand Siblings. Kankurou had been reluctant, but Gaara had just glared at his older brother until he changed his mind. Which took all of three seconds. Temari, on the other hand, always enjoyed an excuse to go see "her" Shikamaru.

It was the most expensive restaurant in Konoha. In truth they'd had a lot of reservations for that night, but the owner hadn't hesitated for a moment when Naruto had come to speak with him. The people would do anything for their Hokage, especially after he had confidentially told the owner the reason for the celebration.

Naruto and Hinata had gone there on their first official date. Which was really about the third or so, if you listened to Hinata. Naruto was a little more clueless. This was the place he took her out the first time he asked her for a date. The way that they'd spent the last two days together didn't count. It was just a coincidence that she'd bumped into him, after all. And then even more of a coincidence the next day. And the picnic basket she'd brought with her was simply the biggest coincidence of all!

Naruto and Hinata had been engaged for nearly two weeks before everyone could manage to be there, and keeping it secret had not been easy. Especially since Naruto wanted to tell their friends before he officially announced it to the world (as was required of a Kage). So being that their friends were highly skilled ninjas, they were all fairly certain that something was up.

"Guys, you know me," Naruto had said. "I'm not one for speeches." There were laughs at that. "So I'll just say it simply. Hinata and I are getting married."

For a moment there was silence, but then almost the entire group burst into congratulations, screams, laughter or all of the above. Sakura chose instead to walk over to Hinata and hold a hand to her forehead. "Strange," she said. "I can't detect any genjutsus. Maybe it's a medical problem. Ino-pig! Check Hinata's mind, I'm afraid she might have gone crazy."

"Crazy? Hinata? I think you should check Naruto instead! Who'd want to get married at our age?!" Kiba came out with. This was swiftly followed by half the group glaring at him as if they wanted to rip out his intestines and strangle him with them. It was entirely possible that Gaara actually did.

Ino giggled, her arm around her lover. "No Kiba, Naruto's not crazy. Hyuugas are famous for being sexy – isn't that right, big forehead?"

Sakura blushed. Kiba chose to remark that if blushing that hard was any indication Sakura would be the next one to want to marry Naruto. After all, it did remind him so much of Hinata.

Kiba shut up pretty quickly after that one – he wasn't suicidal after all.

Lee's reaction to the events was to extol to Naruto at great length the numerous wonderful things about being married. He offered to give Naruto some advice, and probably would have launched into a lecture right then if Tenten hadn't elbowed him. "Sorry Tenten-chan! To make it up for you, I will.." he whispered into her ears, causing her to blush. ".. fifty times! And if I fail at that, I will.." he whispered something else, and Tenten had to cover her mouth with her hand. "..a hundred times!"

"Ahem." Naruto interrupted the two before Lee decided to demonstrate his marital strengths right then and there.

Chouji was keeping quiet. The truth was that he had just gotten married himself, but Shikamaru was the only one who knew. It had been a very private affair, and he had been planning to tell everyone at the next get-together. But now he didn't want to steal Naruto and Hinata's moment in the spotlight.

After the meal was done came the drinking. Lots of it, particularly from Naruto and Gaara. It was no great mystery why they drank so much – it took a lot to actually get them drunk. Especially Naruto, who could bankrupt wine sellers and only feel slightly tipsy by the end of the night.

Still, get enough alcohol in Gaara and you would see one of two things – Scary Gaara, who would threaten to kill anyone and everything, and Friendly Gaara. Friendly Gaara would sing and dance, and put on sand puppet shows with his brother.

It was probably because he was so happy for Naruto that Friendly Gaara had come out that night. Of course Friendly Gaara was a misnomer – he could still be very scary indeed. Both of these facts were evident in the sand show he'd given Hinata. A tiny sand Naruto and Hinata had danced, but then the sand Hinata had gone and kissed another sand figure, making sand Naruto cry. The final act of the little play involved a sand Gaara crushing the sand Hinata to death.

Not the most comforting of messages from a Best Man. But it was just the way he expressed his affection for Naruto.

After getting suitable smashed, a fight broke out between Temari and Shikamaru. Between the references to things the others didn't know about and the sheer level of alcohol in their bodies, it was a fairly unintelligible argument. They spent a good ten minutes screaming incoherently at each other before Temari pushed Shikamaru to the ground and kissed him.

"Oh god, here they go again," was the general sentiment. Just a typical night for those two.

They really loved each other. You'd have to be blind (or as dense on such matters as Naruto) to miss that. But they couldn't stay together. Temari was one of the Sand's most important Jounins, and the smaller village needed every one they had. The Wind Country was not as favourable to their ninja village as the Fire Country, and the Sand had to fight bitterly to maintain their strength and power.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was Naruto's right hand man. Together they governed the village and had brought on an era of greater prosperity than the Leaf had ever seen. Shikamaru knew that he was needed there.

Neither one would abandon their village to stay with the other, and the distance was just too far for them to commute regularly. As girlfriend and boyfriend, yes. But not as anything more. That was the root of all their arguments, whatever they might have seemed to be about on the surface.

One by one, but more often in pairs, the Rookie Nine Plus Six trailed out until just Naruto and Hinata lay on the floor of the restaurant. Naruto set a number of Hi Bunshin to clean up, and Hinata giggled at the seemingly floating plates and bottles dancing around the empty room.

Naruto stroked Hinata's hair and kissed her. The touch seemed to wake her up like a shock. "Naruto-kun… I have to tell you something… I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?!?" There was a loud popping, followed by everything the Hi Bunshin had been holding smashing to the ground. "W-w-w-w-w-hat?!"

"Just kidding." And she kissed him back.

Author's Note: Well, there's another chapter done. I'm not particularly proud of this one, but I'm going away tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be able to update next. I will be working on it as much as I can, though. I'll probably find a way of updating while I'm gone. At the least I'll be writing chapters. At the very least, I'll be writing them in my head.

**This chapter did show some of the other pairings (or at least hint at them), so that's the easy part over. Now to make their kids half as interesting as them!**

**Once more, thanks for all the reviews. And, uh, OmegaFactor – I didn't even realise I had anonymous reviews turned off! Heheh. So now I expect even more reviews, mwahaha!**

…**okay, so I don't really. My goal is to get over 100 reviews someday though. That feels like it would be an achievement.**

**For the record, this chapter takes place when Naruto is 19.**

**So thanks everyone, and see you on Friday**


	8. Chapter 07

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Seven: Introductions**

"So, tell me a little about yourselves."

The Jounin sat atop a wooden stump with his legs crossed. His three new students stood opposite him, fidgeting nervously. Their new head protectors shone in the morning sun, but they still felt a little out of place.

Yume was used to having something on her head, but goggles felt a lot different from a hitai-ate. It wasn't just the physical differences, but the weight of her new responsibilities.

"You." The Jounin pointed at the boy standing to the right of Yume. "Speak."

"My name is Yuuhi Sakumo." He was tall for his age, wearing a black body suit armoured at various points. His eyes were dark red, and his hair was – presumably, because Yume had never seen it – hidden under the headband to which his hitai-ate was now attached.

Sakumo was a decent ninja, though a little introverted. He had a habit of daydreaming about something or other, which was the cause of his poor marks.

"I… what am I supposed to say? I'm nearly thirteen years old. I like reading and painting. I don't like… secrets. My dream is to protect my family."

Seeing her opportunity to speak up, Yume cleared her throat and started to talk. But the Jounin sensei turned his head to the boy on her left and said "Now you."

Yume perked her ears up to hear what he had to say. She wasn't sure exactly who this guy was – he hadn't been in her class like Sakumo. He was wearing what looked like dark blue robes with red lining, and a mask covered the bottom half of his face. His eyes were dark and his hair a muddy brown.

"I, err, I. My name is Nanaka Jo. I'm eleven years old. My mother entered me in the academy a little early, which is why I didn't do very well on the tests. I like my mother and I like to train. I don't like liars and my father. My dream is to acknowledged!"

Yume looked left and right quickly and back at the Jounin, smiling eagerly. He sighed and nodded at her. "Go ahead Yume."

"Aha!" Yume quickly grabbed some things from her pack and threw them to the ground. They were three chakra infused notes. Two of them burst into smoke, and the third glowed and started to play some exciting music. "Beautiful kunoichi of the Leaf," Yume's voice came from within the smoke. "Strongest genin of the world. Proud descendant of the Nidaime Hokage. Graceful granddaughter of the Yondaime Hokage. Powerful daughter of the Rokudaime Hokage. Who am I? I am – UZUMAKI YUME!"

The smoke cleared, showing Yume posing dramatically. "My likes are my family and the people of the Leaf! My dislikes are those who hurt the people I care for! My dream… no, my destiny is to become the greatest Hokage of all! Uzumaki Yume reporting for duty!"

The Jounin rolled his eyes, Jo looked a little scared and Sakumo just sighed.

"Fine, I guess it's my turn. My name is Hyuuga Konohamaru, though you are going to call me Konohamaru-sensei. This means you, Yume. I was a student of the Sixth, and my grandfather was the Third. I like… things I'm not going to talk about. I dislike… you. My dream is something I'm not going to talk about."

"Aww, I know you don't dislike me Konohamaru-osjisan!" Yume said.

In one fluid motion Konohamaru tossed a shuriken directly at Yume's head. But before she could react, he was suddenly in front of her and caught it.

"If you guys are going to learn to be ninjas you'll need to start by learning to respect me. I'm your sensei, and in the battlefield I may be the only thing that's standing between you and death. If you can't understand that I'll flunk you right now.

"Now listen. The Genin exam is not over yet. If you want to be real ninjas, come here tomorrow morning. If you don't, go run home to your parents."

In a puff of smoke Konohamaru was gone, leaving the three Genin to look at each other sheepishly. In truth he hadn't gone very far – he was just sitting in a nearby tree watching them.

Yume laughed. "He doesn't think I can handle it? I'll show him! See you both tomorrow!"

"Um.." Jo spoke up. "I'm not sure I… I don't know if I really want to be a ninja. Maybe I shouldn't come back.."

"Bah! I bet you're a great ninja!" Yume said, turning back to face her new team-mates. "Come on, show me what you got, Jo."

"Umm, are you sure?"

"Yes!" said Yume. "We're going to be team-mates, right? So we should share information on each other so that we can work together better. It just makes sense!"

"O-okay," Jo said resignedly. He slowly removed his robes, revealing a white bodysuit underneath. It was covered in intricate red and black calligraphy. "This is my battle suit. It's… It uses a form of genjutsu to make it hard for people to hit me."

"Really? Wow! Lemme try."

Jo nodded, and formed a seal. Chakra poured into the seals on his suit, making them glow slightly, and his form appeared to blur. Looking at him made Yume feel a little dizzy. She ran at him, trying to connect with a punch, but instead ran right through where she thought he'd been.

She panted and paused, rubbing her eyes. Then grinned. "That was so cool! What else can you do?"

"Oh, uhh," Jo looked down. "I can't really do much more than that. My mother isn't a ninja. I got the suit and some other stuff from a relative of hers as a gift."

"Oh, okay. Well, my turn!"

Yume performed a seal and two clones of her popped into existence next to her in tiny clouds of ninja smoke. "This is my speciality ninjutsu, the Kage Bunshin! They're like regular Bunshin, only flesh and blood." To demonstrate the two clones began to fight.

"On top of that, I have the Byakugan. It's a special eye jutsu that lets me see all around myself and through barriers. I'm pretty good at my mother's family taijutsu style as well, which lets me attack the internal organs of an enemy. I'd show you guys but I wouldn't want to hurt you!" She laughed at that.

"Hey hey, what about you Sakumo?"

Sakumo glared at his team-mates. "I don't have any special skills or jutsus. I'm pretty good at everything though."

"Haha!" Yume said. "Well, now that we've done that, let's train together."

The two boys looked at her oddly.

"Well," she explained, "We'll need to do something to prove to Konohamaru… sensei… that we deserve to be Genins, right? So wouldn't it be best if we were as prepared as possible?"

Sakumo grunted and agreed. Jo just nodded, seemingly afraid to disagree with the forceful Yume.

In the tree, Konohamaru looked on with amusement as his students clumsily started to train together. Yume made three Kage Bunshin and assigned each of them to spar with one of the Genins. This gave all three of them a chance to practise their most powerful moves without worrying about injuring their opponent.

Of course Kage Bunshins didn't last particularly long under such harsh conditions, so Yume had to constantly keep on remaking them. So after half an hour she was completely exhausted. Jo and Sakumo were in similar conditions, though Jo was noticeably less tired than the other two.

"Teach me that move," said Sakumo to the fox girl. "Eh? No! My dad said never to teach anyone!"

"Bah." Sakumo limped away from her and leaned against one of the wooden stumps to catch his breath. Jo had put his robes back on during the conversation.

"I should be going back now," he said. "This was a lot of fun. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Sure, sure," panted Yume as she joined Sakumo on the ground. "Just need to… catch my breath…"

"Leave… me… alone…!" Mumbled Sakumo to the girl sitting next to him.

"Why? You afraid… of girls?"

"I… hate you."

"Aw come on… just let me look once!"

"No! Go look… under Jo's mask instead… moron!"

"Oh, come on Sakumo-kuuuuuuuun!" Yume made puppy dog eyes at Sakumo.

"Hate you so much."

"Oh, you know you love me." Yume made a show of blushing at the older boy. "Sakumo-kun, you're so mysterious and pretty, and you won't ever talk to me. Your complete lack of emotion is just too much for me - oh won't you marry me?"

Yume stuck her tongue out at him. "Nyaaaah!"

"So… much… hate…"

Yume bounded to her feet, already recovered. "Fine, I'll just leave you here then. At least it'll make sure you'll be on time for tomorrow. Later!"

She ran home, leaving the Yuuhi boy to just glare, since his arms still weren't working yet.

"She is so annoying."

**Author's Note: Ugh, that chapter was way harder to write than it should have been. Don't know why. It was short because I was having a really hard time with it.**

**Introduced Yume's sensei and teammates though. Whether they have any relation to real Naruto characters or not remains to be seen. I ain't telling yet, though there are clues. **

**I've figured out what the very last chapter of this fic will be. No clue when it will be posted, if ever, but I know what it's going to be about. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, as always. I'll be looking into following some of the requests. In fact one of them I sort of already did.**

**If I don't post anything in the next few days, expect the conclusion of the Fall of the Red Moon storyline. Otherwise the next chapter will probably be Yume's Genin test, and maybe Iruka's as well depending on how much energy I have.**

**PS – review. **

**Later!**


	9. Chapter 08

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Eight: The Bells**

At supper neither Yume nor Iruka would shut up.

Not that this was particularly strange, but it was true all the same.

The eight members of the Uzumaki clan were sat around their large table eating. Being Uzumakis, most of them did this quickly and violently, spilling food everywhere with their dramatic gestures. Hinata, though she'd opened up a lot since her own days as a Genin, had never managed to get over the manners that had been beaten into her, so she ate like an island of tranquillity within the sea of Uzumaki madness.

Hanako was pretty quiet (at least compared to her siblings) in general, and Obito was still too small to really take part in the fun. Baby Koyuki was sleeping in her high chair, mufflers covering her sensitive ears. But the others (including, and especially, their father Naruto) were noisy and expressive.

They didn't argue. At least not seriously, but they did shout a lot. Hinata had gotten used to it over the years – it had always been one of Naruto's endearing qualities, but not one she had especially wanted her children to possess. But Hinata loved her family more than enough not to care.

She was a good mother (a great mother, insisted Naruto). It helped that none of her children were able to actually hide from her – they grew up knowing that no matter where they were within the mansion she could see them. They had their own Byakugans of course, but it would be many years before they could even begin to approach Hinata's level of ability.

Since becoming a mother Hinata had taken very few missions. When she did work, she helped out the Interrogation Unit rather than taking anything that would force her out of the village. Naruto was much the same. You'd think Hokage would be a dangerous job, but for the most part it was quite sedate. Occasionally maddeningly so. Naruto would sometimes (often) take some insignificant (S-Class) missions as entertainment. More often than not he'd take Gaara along with him.

It wasn't as if he was in any real danger, he'd argue to his wife with the puppy dog expression on his face. There probably wasn't anything out there that could actually kill him, would be the second point. Hinata would rebut by crossing her arms and sighing.

Naruto never won those arguments.

The truth, though neither of them particularly wanted to admit it, was that Naruto was right. Nothing could kill him. His greatest fear was that he'd simply outlive everyone he loved.

Right now though, he was content just to listen to his children talk about their first day as Genin. He'd made the assignments of course, so he wasn't surprised at who was on their teams, but it was interesting to hear their perspectives.

Yume moaned and moaned about how mean her uncle Konohamaru had been. She said how happy she'd been when she found out he was her instructor, but nooo, he had to go and be so mean. Hinata pointed out that it was his job to do that, but Yume pouted and said it was still mean.

She did seem impressed with her team-mates though (which was a good attitude, considering she was on paper the most powerful). Even if she called Sakumo a bastard a good few times during the course of the conversation, she grudgingly admitted a modicum of respect for his skills. But it was Jo she was most impressed with. She'd never met him before, after all, whereas she'd dealt with Sakumo every day for years.

"He kept up with my Kage Bunshins for longer than Sakumo did! I think he's almost got as much stamina as Iruka!" Yume said, followed by a bitter Iruka mumbling "He wishes."

"And his body suit is really, really sweet. I want one. I couldn't even hit him when he gave me a clean shot! Can I have one of those suits? Please?"

Naruto chuckled. "I don't know how to make one. As far as I know it's the only one in existence." He paused. "Listen, Jo managed to pass the academy incredibly quickly. He's a gifted young boy, but remember he's younger than you are and he has a lot less training. Look out for him, 'kay?"

"Do I have to look after that bastard Sakumo too?" Yume frowned as she asked. Hinata was the one to answer this. "You know his mother looked after me when I was your age. If she has confidence in him then so do I."

"Bah." She was silent for a minute (which gave a window of opportunity for Neji to start animatedly telling everyone about what he'd done that day, complete with sound effects) but then spoke again. "So," she started, with a gleam in her eye, "What are you going to get me tomorrow, after I'm an official Genin?"

Iruka chose that moment to burst into laughter. "Please, you're going to be sent back to the academy so fast they'll swear you're the third Yellow Flash!"

"Oh yeah?! Well at least I'm fast to begin with! When you fail the rest of your team will have to carry your fat ass back, unless they want to get there a week before you. Of course they might break their backs from the weight, but that's the price they pay for being so unlucky to be on a team with you!"

Neji, Hanako and Obito found this exchange incredibly hilarious. Of course Obito was kind of just going along with it, but he didn't mind. Even Hinata chuckled a little.

Naruto laughed the hardest though, then picked them both up and put them on his shoulders. They protested, of course (after all they were eleven and twelve years old! Far too old for such things!) but couldn't break the gentle but incredibly firm grip. He took them to the roof of the mansion, and sat them down there so they could watch the sun set over the village.

"You see that?" He asked. "You're not kids anymore. There won't be presents. You're proud shinobi of the Leaf. Never forget that. What you're looking at, that's what you have to protect. With your lives if necessary. I may be your father, but my first duty is to the village. Never forget that."

The three orange-clad ninjas sat there together for a while just enjoying the view and thinking about the future.

After a while Iruka started talking about his team, (more) calmly this time.

"Lee-sensei is so cool, dad. He told us about how he can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu but he still got to be a Jounin! That's just amazing."

"Yeah, it is. He's one of the few people to ever defeat your uncle Neji, did you know that? It's a very short list."

"But you did it first, right dad?" Asked an excited Yume.

"Sure, but I had a little help." Naruto rubbed his belly knowingly. "Your mother encouraged me! Oh, and you-know-what helped a little as well. Lee did it all with nothing but hard work. That's way more impressive."

"And and and! He showed us some of his moves – he's so fast dad it's unbelievable. I've never seen anyone move so fast in my life! Of course I couldn't actually see it, but that just goes to show how fast it was!"

"How were your team-mates?" Naruto asked.

"They were pretty cool. Kazeko is nice of course, I like her. She acts like a girl as well, unlike some people." Yume stuck her tongue out at her younger brother. "Feels like I haven't seen her in years. She's really changed." He blushed a little at that, then shook his head.

"Then there's Choumaru. Well, he seems reliable. He's a little quiet."

"Sure that wasn't just because you wouldn't shut up Iruka?" Yume asked with an innocent expression on her face. Iruka responded by punching her.

"Choumaru… I don't know. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do tomorrow. Lee-sensei said we had to all train together so he could assess us."

"Lucky. Wish Konohamaru-sensei was so nice. He made it sound like we would be kicked out for sure." Yume frowned at the memory.

Naruto laughed, loud and clear like a bell. "Tell your mother I'm going for a run. And get to bed kids, you've got a long day ahead of you." And with that Naruto jumped clear off the roof of the mansion and down to the street below.

The next morning, Yume put on her orange suit and tied her blonde hair back into a ponytail. She put her new head protector on her forehead and set out for the day's mission.

Sakumo and Jo were already at the training ground when she arrived. Sakumo glared at her, but Jo smiled. "Saku-chan! Jojo!" Yume cried out happily. "Now where's that jerk of an instructor?"

"Ahem." Yume whipped round to face her uncle. "Uh, ah, uncle… I mean sensei… I didn't see you there."

"Good morning students." Konohamaru said, ignoring the flustering fox girl. He leapt to the top of a wooden stump, and reached inside his clothes. He pulled out a pair of small bells.

"Your mission for today, is to…" he jingled the bells a little…

…and from the trees a small monkey wearing a Leaf headband and a jacket appeared suddenly. "…catch that monkey!"

"….eh?" Yume said. Jo and Sakumo were no less confused.

Konohamaru got out a small book and started reading. "You'd better hurry if you want to catch him. He's faster than he looks. Oh, and you've only got twenty minutes."

"…eh?"

The monkey ran past Yume and pinched her butt. Grabbing it in shock, Yume fumed. "AFTER HIM!"

Forming a seal she made a dozen Kage Bunshins and set them all the catch the damned primate. The others followed swiftly.

Ten minutes later, they'd made precisely no progress. In fact, if you counted the destruction of several trees and the energy they'd used up, Team 5 were actually worse off than they'd started. It was Sakumo who stopped them.

"This is stupid," he said. "Yes, I know," Yume had said coldly. "Damn that sensei, sending us to catch a monkey."

"No, that's not what I meant. We're doing this all wrong. You're using up your stamina on Kage Bunshins when they're really slowing you down. Jo's skills make it harder for him to catch things, not easier. And I'm not fast enough or strong enough to get it."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

"We could try thinking about it a little more. What do monkeys like?"

"Uhh… Yume's butt?" asked Jo.

"Apart from that?"

"Uhh…"

A few minutes later again, the team had their trap. They used some food to lure the primate in the direction they wanted, then waited.

Sure enough, it came walking carefully along. It spotted a hole in the ground, and took a peek inside. Upon seeing the feast of bananas within, the creature's eyes turned into tiny hearts and it jumped inside, not sensing any traps. But the second it picked up one of the bananas the hole turned dark, as a covering was placed over it. Shrieking annoyance, it dropped the banana and started to dig.

Immediately the bananas disappeared in a puff of smoke to be replaced with Yume clones. So many that there wasn't a single inch of room for the monkey to try and escape with. Yume laughed evilly as she tied the beast up.

Back at the stumps, Konohamaru was grinning at the book. Ah, the Itcha Itcha series just got better and better, he reflected. Looking at the position of the sun, he wondered how his students had done. Just then they emerged from the cover of the trees, carrying the trussed up monkey.

They tossed it to the ground in front of Konohamaru, and as one said "Mission accomplished sir!"

Konohamaru untied the animal, and it saluted him before disappearing in a puff of ninja smoke. "Did you have to make the knots so tight?"

"It. Pinched. My. Butt," said Yume, eyes narrow.

"Well, regardless, you all…… FAIL! You took over twenty minutes."

"GAAAAARH!" Yume ran at Konohamaru, drawing a kunai. He stopped her with a hand on her head. Sakumo didn't attack, but he looked severely unimpressed.

Jo, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. "Sir, you said that we had twenty minutes to catch the monkey. We did that with time to spare. You never said anything about how long we had to take it back to you. In fact you didn't say anything about taking it back to you at all." He explained how they had come to catch the creature well within the time limit.

Konohamaru's eyes narrowed, and he released the aura of his chakra. The pressure of it terrified the three children, and they backed away nervously.

"Jo…. Well done! You all pass.

"Sakumo," he said, turning to the black clothed boy. "Your plan was excellent. A ninja's most important attribute is his head.

"Yume, you showed impressive stamina and followed Sakumo's plan perfectly.

"And Jo, you had the strength of will and mind to question my decision based on your own values. Too many ninjas would simply have accepted what I said. Remember, your job as a ninja is to complete the mission as best you can, not to worry too much about what is said.

"As of now, you three are all offical Genins of the Hidden Leaf. Wear your head protectors with pride. Now meet me at the Hokage's Office tomorrow at ten. We'll get you started on your real missions."

He smiled at his students, and said simply "Dismissed!"

**Author's Note – now, aren't you lucky? Two chapters in one day! Not my best work, but I'm happy with this one.**

**And wow, I forgot to mention before – I hit over 50 reviews! Amazing! Thanks everyone! I'll answer your questions in my next chapter; it's getting late here.**

**Just a quick detailing of the two Genin teams thus far described:**

**Team 3**

**Jounin – Rock Lee**

**Uzumaki Iruka**

**Nara Kazeko**

**Aikimchi Choumaru**

**Team 5**

**Jounin – Hyuuga Konohamaru (who did indeed marry Hanabi, so it's no typo. More details on that later)**

**Uzumaki Yume**

**Yuuhi Sakumo**

**Nanaka Jo**

**Now, as I said before I'm going away tomorrow so I may not be able to update. I'll try though. And I'll see you all on Friday otherwise!**

**Next chapter will be the Fall of the Red Moon Part 3, but it might take me a while. It'll likely be pretty long as compensation though. It's possible I might post a short chapter as filler if I can't get it done quickly enough.**

**Oh, and before I forget (again) – I changed the ending of Chapter Six slightly. **

**Now, review review review!**


	10. Chapter 09

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Nine: Fall of the Red Moon Part Three**

_Last chapter we saw Naruto and Gaara escape from the prison cell, killing two of the Akatsuki in the process. Meanwhile their friends found the location of the Akatsuki base and with the help of Shikamaru's tactical abilities and some teamwork managed to defeat another two members._

_Naruto and Gaara then confront the Akatsuki leader, who has a startling revelation – like them, he is a vessel for an ancient demon._

"Now my brothers," the man who named himself Akatsuki spoke "Join me! We have been apart far too long!"

Behind him the aura of a demon flared, almost visible in the darkness of the cave. The pressure was incredible, almost forcing back Naruto and Gaara. The two missing-nins to the sides of the demon-man bowed their heads – not quite in fear but not quite in respect either.

Naruto forced himself to smile. "Think you're clever, do you? Well you're not the only one with tricks."

With a deep breath the Leaf-nin brought his own demonic energy to the surface. The cave filled again with an energy so immense it seemed it might burn the flesh of those it touched within. And behind Naruto the impression of a malevolent demon with nine tails was formed, seeming so real that those in the chamber could almost feel it watching them with eyes of red hate.

The black chakra and the red chakra fought, pushing back against each other for dominance. For a moment it seemed as if neither could win, but then a snarl came from the throat of Naruto and suddenly the red chakra overwhelmed the black, devouring it whole. And for a second the black, elongated pupils of Naruto's demonic eyes shone darker.

"Brother Kyuubi, your power is everything I remembered it to be. The ultimate chakra indeed. And you, brother Shukaku? You have nothing to show me?"

Gaara's response was to stretch out one hand and form a fist. "Your death." Sand flowed from the gourd to surround the form of this other demon vessel. "Desert Funeral," Gaara said softly, and the sand condensed.

But the Kazekage's eyes flared with surprise and anger and just a second passed before the sand shell burst outwards, revealing a second, black layer inside. And then that black covering moved, revealing the smiling face of the Akatsuki leader as the wings of black chakra stand behind him. They flap once with incredible power, and he rose smoothly into the air.

"Magnificent!" He cried. "Truly magnificent. You are my brothers indeed."

Above the surface, the teenage ninjas recognized immediately two of the three great powers unleashed.

None of them knew what the first had been, and that had scared them. No one had admitted such, but they all felt it.

The second chakra had been scary as well, but it was Neji who spoke up first. "That is Naruto's power. I remember it from the Chuunin Exam." Team Save Naruto (and Gaara) were almost relieved, though the new knowledge of the Kyuubi still had most of them shocked.

The third power, though weaker, made Temari and Kankurou smile. They would recognize it anywhere.

Upon sensing Naruto, Hinata had redoubled her efforts at cracking the genjutsu. Scattered on the ground around her were dozens of scrolls with hastily drawn seals and designs, and sweat poured down her face in droplets. Finally she could sense how close she was. She could almost taste it; picturing her Naruto-kun gave her strength to continue.

With one last flourish in the air it was done. Hinata had unlocked the doorway to the home of the most dangerous men and women in the world. But nothing would intimidate her now.

"Yes! Yes yes yes!" Hinata shouted out. "Yes! We're in!" In a flash Lee was with her, holding the kunoichi in the air and crying joyfully. "Haha! Now nothing will stop us from saving our brave companions!"

The others all congratulated Hinata in their own way as she garbled about keys and pathways and other technical terms.

Kiba tossed Hinata a soldier pill, which she gobbled down. At once her body was restored somewhat, and the familiar feeling of chakra flowing through her inner coils comforted the Hyuuga girl. She calmed her shaking nerves and performed the final seal, releasing the genjutsu.

In front of them came into form a stone stairway, leading deep down into the earth. It had been carved intricately with otherworldly designs. Some were strangely beautiful while others were horrifying. They depicted terrible beasts destroying entire countries and killing thousands. Hinata gasped when she found one of a nine-tailed fox, while Temari sighed at the one of the giant tanuki.

Sakura lead the way inside, the location jutsu guiding her once more. The group darted through underground caves and over subterranean rivers. The powers of the Byakugans possessed by Neji and Hinata showed the Leaf and Sand-nins the correct paths, avoiding the most dangerous of routes.

"Hold up," Akamaru yelped. His voice was low and guttural but understandable all the same. Inuzaka dogs were not normal in any way, but even so only the most gifted learned human speech. Kiba would often tell his friends proudly that Akamaru was the most talented dog their clan had raised in many years (though few of them actually believed the boy).

Akamaru growled some details to Kiba who related them to the rest of the group. Up ahead were five ninjas. Five very powerful ninjas.

"Kill them."

The Red Moon sat back in his throne and closed his eyes. It was never clear exactly what he had meant or whom he had been talking to.

The Akatsuki members, however, clearly believed that their leader wanted the other two demon vessels to die. Or at least they acted as such. The Rain-nin performed a set of seals calmly, and a small black cloud appeared in the air of the cave. The Stone-nin at the same time ran toward Gaara at speed, chakra collected in his fist.

Like clockwork at the same moment the Stone-nin's fist impacted with the sand shield, tiny droplets of black liquid formed like spears in the air and flew true towards Naruto. But with a bestial roar and a swirl of red chakra the sharpened black drops were forced away. Gaara and Naruto exchanged a private look of acknowledgement.

Naruto put it into words. "You'll have to try harder. We both have the ultimate defence."

Naruto formed a familiar seal and split into dozens upon dozens of clones, running at the Rain-nin as one. As they ran half of the clones transformed into other weapons – some shuriken, some kunai and a few swords. The remaining clones took their Henged counterparts and armed themselves.

One Naruto advanced first, eyes flashing crimson. He held a kodachi like an expert, and slashed at the standing Rain-nin. The missing-nin bent backwards at an impossible angle, the sword-bunshin only slicing through his robes. From behind he dodged again as another Naruto tried a kick.

The battle raged on with the Naruto's gaining ground slowly. Though the thin ninja could dodge so much faster than humanly possible, even he was no match against an army of Naruto's and their ability to transform at any moment. A Naruto would throw a hail of shurikens, only for one of them to change shape in mid air and hurl the others towards the enemy.

But what the Narutos did not notice was the black cloud still floating above them. The moment the Rain-nin felt he was losing the battle, he performed a seal with his left hand, and again the tiny black spears formed in the air - each hunting out a different Naruto and destroying it in a puff of ninja smoke.

Gaara's battle was going better. No matter his opponent's strength, it was not enough to penetrate the barrier of sand surrounding the Kazekage. The shield of sand had not been enough, but the cocoon was impenetrable. Still, it was taking all of Gaara's defensive might to hold him back. It left little for offence.

Strands of sand bound themselves around the wrists of the ninja, razor sharp edges slicing in vain the chakra-hardened skin of Gaara's foe. As if he was in fact made of stone, the sand blades merely scratched his flesh – he didn't even appear fazed by the attacks. But all the same, he saw the futility in his efforts and decided to change tack.

He plunged his hands into the stone of the ground as if it were water, and immediately a chasm formed beneath Gaara's feet like the sea being parted.

Gaara reacted instinctively. His sand shell only dropped an inch before it flowed out to span the gap, but that was all the Akatsuki member needed to strike. His fist - again charged with chakra - plunged through the barrier of sand as if it were paper, striking Gaara clear in the face.

The Kazekage of the Sand flew backwards from the blow, the sand not saving him before he could fall down into the chasm.

With a smirk on his face, the Stone-nin plunged his hands back into the stone and closed the chasm above the tanuki boy, trapping him beneath the ground.

"NO!" Naruto screamed. He rushed towards the Stone-nin with Kyuubi chakra flowing through him. But turning his back on the Rain-nin was a mistake, and demonic power wasn't enough to stop the Akatsuki's black liquid blade from piercing his chest. The fox boy cried out, and before he could heal his wound, the black-cloaked ninja channelled his own chakra through the dark sword and pinned Naruto to the ground.

From the black cloud and another one-handed seal came more of the strange water. It amassed in his hand in a sphere before twisting shape into a coil of barbed wire, which snaked out around Naruto's screaming body and held it tight. The barbs bit through his clothes and into his flesh. Bright red blood poured out onto the stone floor.

Not far away, Akamaru howled softly. "Blood," he said. Kiba sniffed the air in turn "Naruto's blood."

As one Team Save Naruto sped forward, burning chakra for precious speed. In seconds they were in the great throne room and in seconds they were in action.

"Where's Gaara?" shouted Temari to the others. Neji pointed at the ground where the chasm had swallowed her brother. "I see him under there. He is safe inside a cocoon of his sand for now."

"Right!" Sakura shouted. She flowed chakra perfectly into her fists and as she brought them down on the ground released. The impact shook the cave and destroyed the ground above Gaara. The rippling of stone made the Stone missing-nin wince, and for a split second he was forced to remove his hands from within the ground.

Hinata and Lee charged the Rain-nin head on, combining their attacks. His uncanny dodging ability was not enough against the two Taijutsu masters, and he took several blows head on. But when he tightened his grip on Naruto, causing the demon boy to cry out and even more blood to seep out from him, Hinata gasped and lost her concentration, and that was when the Rain-nin struck with more of his deadly black spears…

…only for them to be blown away once more by a white whirl of motion and chakra. "A Hyuuga is not so easily distracted," Hinata smirked. "You would do well to learn that lesson in the moments you have left to live."

The ninja's dark eyes widened as time appeared to slow down. Hinata's open fist came ever closer to his heart. But it would not reach.

Sakura was by Naruto. She had sliced away the wire and begun work on removing the sword, but she couldn't finish.

Lee too had been about to strike the master of the black rain.

Kankurou was attempting to save his brother from the rubble with the aid of his puppets.

Tenten had unleashed a torrent of blades at the Stone nin, aided by the wind gusts of Temari..

Kiba and Akamaru had performed their Beast Human jutsus in preparation to attack.

The Ino-Shika-Chou trio huddled together in hopes of concocting a sure strategy, the bulk of Chouji guarding them.

Shino's bugs swarmed towards all three enemy ninjas.

Neji rushed the Stone-nin. His hands flashed with chakra spikes.

But none of them got to do anything past that. Because with a surge of black chakra every one of the Leaf and Sand ninjas were pushed back to the edges of the room as the Red Moon rose into the air once more.

"Intruders," he began, eyes black with hate. "How dare you! This is the sanctum of the Red Moon! Only my brothers and my servants may stand here!"

His wings flapped powerfully in the air and gusts of chakra-enforced air buffeted the group terribly. "You will all die now for your sins."

It started as a low moan and grew. From a moan to a growl to a cry to a howl. Monstrous demonic chakra burst forth from Naruto's form like a hurricane, and the boy rose to his feet like he was possessed. With his own hands he drew the sword from out his chest and held it, though it was a poor fit for his clawed hands. The wound healed almost before the black weapon was out of his chest.

Through fanged mouth and animal fury he uttered five words.

"You. Will. NOT. HARM. THEM!"

As if on cue, a howl of pain came muffled from the rubble, and it began to melt. The stones melted into grains of sand from which rose the Kazekage triumphant. Gaara stood on a platform of sand with his hands outstretched.

"Release them. I will not say it again."

"Brothers, do not fight me. Your place is at my side." The Red Moon smiled madly at the two.

"Gaara?" Naruto's foxlike form faced the tanuki boy.

"Naruto?" Gaara replied.

"NEVER!" they cried together.

"Hurt our friends, and…" Naruto started.

"… your pain shall be known as legendary throughout the world." Gaara finished.

"Hmm, not quite what I was going to say, but I guess it'll do." Despite his demonic visage Naruto grinned.

"Enough! It's obvious the two of you are not aware of your true selves. You need education, both of you. Allow me." With a fluid gesture bolts of black energy flew towards Gaara and Naruto. Gaara's sand formed a protective barrier, and even though it still penetrated it was slowed enough for the Kazekage to dodge.

Naruto, on the other hand, was not so lucky. His bolt hit him dead on between his eyes, and without a sound he fell to the ground cold, the black liquid sword clattering to the ground out of his reach.

"Well, one is not bad. At least once Kyuubi awakens he will join me for certain."

"Uzumaki Naruto will never join you," Gaara said, his eyes narrow. "But just to make sure, I will kill you before he awakens."

The ground of the cave began to shift subtly. A tiny layer of the stone became infused with chakra and broke down, turning solid stone to grains of sand.

Gaara reached out and this sand swallowed the Red Moon whole. But instead of crushing him, the sand glowed a yellow-brown and patterns of black formed over it.

"Desert Seal," whispered Gaara.

At once the effect was obvious. The black chakra holding the other ninjas dissipated. One and all they were released from the Akatsuki's hold over them and ready to fight once more.

"Kill the others. I will handle this one alone." Gaara's voice echoed authoritatively as only a true Kage could.

Within the Desert Seal the Red Moon struggled. His demonic power was being blocked – kept out of reach of his mortal form. How he cursed the day he had been sealed inside such a pathetic, useless child. He could remember so clearly when he had been one of the greatest of all the Youmas. With every moment that passed he could feel the power slipping away.

Meanwhile the Sand and Leaf nins fought well. Hinata and Sakura tended Naruto, but everyone else fought on.

Lee exchanged blows with the Stone-nin. His first was light, testing the man's defence. Suitably impressed, he reeled off a super fast combo of sharp, powerful blows against his chest. "Strong," said the Stone-nin. The first words any of them had heard him utter. "But not as strong as me."

He made a grab for Lee's bandaged arms with his powerful fist, but Lee was too quick and dodges effortlessly. "Perhaps I am not as strong as you," he replied, "but you are not as fast as me."

He made another grab for Lee, but the Proud Azure Beast of the Leaf simply spun and ducked, sweeping at the Akatsuki ninja's legs.

"Perhaps you would even beat me if we were to fight alone," Lee continued. "The power of hard work is not invulnerable. But I am not alone."

And with that came the attack. Kunai danced in the air and from the ceiling leapt the lithe figure of Tenten. With one hand she expertly threw two kunai, and with the other she wrapped wires round the missing-nin's legs precisely where Lee had damaged them. The ninja had a moment to see exactly where the kunai were headed, and he had the perfect view for the split-second before they pierced his eyeballs.

"Even someone with skin as hard as yours has his weak points, no?" Tenten grinned, her hand in a victory sign.

"I won't be beaten that easily, you young idiots!" His hands free, the Stone-nin plunged them back into the surface of the rocky floor, and Tenten sank into the ground as if it were mud. No matter how she tried, to her it was as hard as rock. "Lee-kun!"

"Do not worry my love, the shining purity of our hearts will prevail!" Lee had jumped into the air the moment he felt the chakra flow into the ground, and with his bandaged hands grabbed onto the wires Tenten had left in the ceiling. Though it cut into him, he whirled around and used the momentum to fly to safety.

"Hey eyebrows. You're really getting pushed around there." Kankurou smirked at Rock Lee.

"Oh? At least I have been fighting."

"Hey! I was just poisoned against Sasori of the Red Sands. A living legend in the Hidden Sand! But now that you mention it…" he flexed his fingers. "Maybe I will join in the fun."

Lee stood firm on the liquid ground, using chakra to keep himself aloft, and Kankurou's puppets launched towards the Stone-nin.

The Rain-nin was not faring well against his opponents. He faced Neji, the unstoppable genius of the Hyuuga, and Temari of the Sand. Assisting them were the Ino-Shika-Chou trio, though the three Chuunin were running low on chakra. None of them was truly exceptional in fighting skill save Shikamaru and his strategies, and the other ninjas had already been filled in on what he wanted them to do via Ino's mental jutsus. Chouji had wanted to use his pills, but using the Multi-Size was too dangerous in such an enclosed space, and Shikamaru had forbid Chouji ever to use the third pill again.

"Hinata-sama told you to fear the Hyuuga. I hope that is a lesson you have learned, because it will make your death easier." As Neji attacked with the Gentle Fist, Temari handled the black rain weaponry of the Akatsuki member with her fan-controlled gusts of wind. She had a great enough control to even direct them back towards the thin man, though he did not appear to take any damage.

Neji had connected with several critical strikes already, helped by the lack of a need to focus on defence. Without using his chakra for Kaiten he found that he could expend much more on power and speed, helping him catch the astoundingly agile ninja where it would not have been possible otherwise.

Kiba and Shino worked defence, covering for Sakura and Hinata, who were busy caring for the catatonic Naruto.

"wake up naruto wake up wake up naruto wake up wake up wake up.."

The voices seemed otherworldly, ethereal. It felt as if he was being called to by angels, though he knew no angels would ever care for a demon like him.

"wake up naruto wake up wake up naruto wake up wake up wake up.."

"Urhh.." Naruto groaned. His eyes opened slowly, as if a bright light was being shone into them. Above him he could see the tear-stained faces of Sakura and Hinata looking down. Sakura's hands were glowing with healing chakra and Hinata had his hand in hers.

He moved his own hand up to touch his face, which felt strange. There was something wet there on his cheek. Naruto locked eyes with the now-smiling Hinata.

And then…

And then… something happened. His blue eyes faced Hinata's white, and something inside Naruto's head burst. As if a mental dam had been holding back liquid fire.

He began to scream.

Everyone on the battleground took notice. They had never heard a sound of such anguish before, such pain. Many of them doubted they could bear whatever was causing it. And in truth they would have been right.

Images, feelings, sounds, sensations and experiences flooded Naruto's mind in a whirlwind, too fast for anything to remain solid, but too intense for anything to ever be forgotten. The memories burnt into Naruto like a Katon greater than any other. Countless millennia worth of them pushed into his brain in just seconds – memories of other worlds and places, of creatures greater than any imagining, of battles fiercer than any shinobi could know.

Of pain and deaths so many in number that there could never be any redemption.

The memories of the Kyuubi and all its centuries of twisted life and death.

In Naruto.

Hinata released Naruto's hand and stood. She turned to look at the Rain-nin, the one she knew had hurt her Naruto-kun. And black sword in hand, she ran at him. Neji had all but paralysed him with the Gentle Fist, but he had not yet dealt the lethal blow. That would be Hinata's task, as with the blade of black rain she impaled him just as he had Naruto.

He had no demon inside him to heal the wound.

As Tenten chipped away at the stone holding her legs, Lee and Kankurou marched forward. Kankurou's puppets attacked from all sides, and the Stone-nin flailed blindly at them, never connecting. Kankurou's fingers were too clever for him by far.

Seeing an opportunity, Kankurou detached the head from Karasu, and the poisoned blade pierced the Akatsuki's skull the same way Tenten's kunai had. The poison worked quickly, but even before it could kill him Lee finished the ninja. Using all his speed and strength Lee caved in the man's iron-tough ribcage and crushed his cold heart.

The moment that the two Akatsuki members died, an intense pressure came from within the sand of Gaara's Desert Seal. No sweat or emotion could be seen through Gaara's Armour of Sand, but his body language spoke lengths about the strain he was under.

Waves of heat burst forth from the sand shell covering the Red Moon and the sand began to crystallize. From within it the black-clad form of the Red Moon could begin to be seen, grimacing. He was covered in flames that melted the sand and formed glass. And once the glass shell was complete, he released a bolt of light which refracted through the crystal seal and into Gaara.

The Kazekage cried out in a short burst of pain, and the seal shattered. From inside stepped out the Akatsuki leader, surrounded once more by the dark corona of his demonic power.

"You insects have defied me in my absence, I see. No matter. I shall deal with you as befits your kind." He raised a single hand, and black claws of chakra swirled into shape. He began to bring that hand down, but stopped sharply as a strange cry came from the lips of Naruto.

"What?!" The Red Moon shouted. "That cannot be!"

Naruto spoke again, sitting up. His words were in some language that none of the ninjas understood, but which caused them all to shiver down to their very souls.

"No! My brother!" The demon leader of Akatsuki looked worried. Ever scared.

Again Naruto spoke the demon language, and Red Moon backed away in fear.

" But I… But I did it all for you!"

Naruto spoke for a final time in this strange tongue, now standing. His friends were not sure what to make of this, but Gaara understood.

"I told you that Uzumaki Naruto would never join you, no matter what you did."

"Fine!" Cried the demon of the Red Moon. "Fine! I will have to kill you, though we are kin. And then I shall destroy this world alone."

Naruto spoke once more, but this time in words everyone could understand.

"You can try."

And he grinned his foxy grin as the chakra of the Kyuubi surrounded him. It formed armour of solid force, and powered his body far beyond its means.

Gaara called his sand to him, and it too became a form of armour befitting the tanuki demon within him.

Naruto leapt forward like a giant fox, and met the Red Moon in midair. Though he could not fly, his agility more than compensated for his foe's aerial advantage. Gaara attacked from long range with his Sand Shurikens and blasts of compressed air while Naruto fought up close with fangs and claws of red chakra. Akatsuki was not without his own powers though.

The battle went on for nearly an hour, and the other ninjas were held back by a swirling barrier of demonic chakras. Lee tried many times to penetrate it, only to be forced back every time. The mixtures of three different demon chakras was a volatile one it seemed, and not a friendly environment. It was only because of their power that the three demon vessels could survive.

The man who called himself the Red Moon surrendered completely to his demon, giving him power beyond that of Naruto and Gaara. But the two shinobi would not give in, and worked together. It was for that reason that when the cloud of chakra gave way and the three collapsed to the ground it was Naruto and Gaara who still stood while the Red Moon was prone on the stone floor.

They were breathing heavily, and bled from many wounds. Naruto had reached his limit of how much Kyuubi chakra he could channel, and so for once his wounds did not close immediately. His natural healing factor went to work fast, but even so he bled.

Gaara's tanuki armour had crumpled and cracked around him before falling in a pile to the ground, and there were deep gashes in his clothes from where it had just not been enough. His stamina was not as great as Naruto's though, and he was on his last legs. He tottered there and would have fallen had Lee not caught him with a swift burst of movement.

But Naruto stood. And he stood over the body of the fallen Red Moon.

He spoke.

"I don't know what hardships you've lived through. The pain you've felt… what it's like to live without purpose. I understand that. And to live like that… I can remember it too well. But there comes a time when I just can't forgive you any more. Gaara and I, we live to fight our monsters! We live to protect others from the evil inside us!

"I have seen the evil of the Kyuubi. I can remember the taste of blood on its fangs and the smell of roasting flesh. I can remember crushing entire villages with a single tail. I will never forget any of that, no matter how long I live. But I will never, ever stop fighting.

"I guarantee you this: even if I live a thousand years I will never become you."

"…please… I just… wanted… family…"

Tears in his demon-red eyes, Naruto plunged the Rasengan into the heart of Akatsuki, and he was no more.

**Author's Note: Phew, remind me never to write large-scale fight scenes ever, ever again. That took forever.**

**I can't apologise enough about the severe lateness. I mentioned that I was going to be travelling for a few days, and because of transport issues that ended up stretching into a few more days and so on. And then yesterday when I was finally back I just ended up falling into a light coma from exhaustion and sleeping the entire day.**

**Still, it's done now, and I can go to bed. Where I will lay in pain from the headache I gave myself writing this. Argh.**

**I hope you all enjoyed it, no matter how late it was. And expect a new chapter tomorrow. A shorter one. Much shorter. **

**So, review review review. I want to see if I can top 100!**

**Good night my friends!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But dabbling is fun!

**Chapter Ten: A Shining Future**

"Rock Lee, for your loyalty and strength in helping to defeat Akatsuki, and your previous exemplary record as a shinobi of the Leaf, I grant you the rank of Jounin, to be received after a six-month probationary period for going against a direct order, ya idiot!"

Those words echoed through the heart of Rock Lee, the Leaf's Proud Azure Beast, as the proudest moment in his life.

Finally his life-long dream of proving himself a great ninja had been accomplished. But where to go from there? Why, where else? Rock Lee's new dream was to become the greatest ninja possible! All without the use of ninjutsu or genjutsu!

Today was the day his probationary period ended, he thought, with a grid broad on his face and a skip in his step. Which was proving quite dangerous, as a skip in Lee's step could propel him hundreds of metres at a time. If one had tallied the amount of damage Lee had inadvertently done that day (as Tsunade's office was forced to do, in order to calculate how much pay to dock Lee) it might even have been a ridiculously large enough figure to jog Lee out of his euphoric bliss.

But probably not.

Such was the nature of Rock Lee's good mood.

Leaping through the streets, Lee passed the jogging form of Uzumaki Naruto and his three spirited students. The Azure Beast paused in his revelry to give Naruto a Nice Guy thumbs up. Naruto stopped and returned the pose, teeth sparkling with a "ping"!

Giant tears welled up in Lee's eyes. "Naruto-kun! Today I join you in the proud ranks of the Konoha Jounin!"

"Then Lee, you have achieved your dream at last!"

"Yes! But now I have sworn to achieve a new dream – I will be the greatest shinobi in the world!" Lee gave another thumbs up to Naruto and his students, and then continued merrily on his way.

As he left the foursome, Lee could hear Naruto giving Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi a lecture on the importance of the Nice Guy pose, which brought to Lee's eyes more tears. Truly Naruto was the greatest of all senseis, second only to Gai-sensei himself!

On his journey to the administration building Lee next met with Shikamaru and Temari, who were coordinating about the next Chuunin Exam to be held in Hidden Sand. At least that was what they would both say (very loudly) when confronted. Laughing joyfully, Lee moved forward again. Truly there was nothing greater than young love!

Two leaps later Lee caught a glimpse of his former love Haruno Sakura headed towards the hospital. As a medic-nin it was her duty to pull shifts at the Konoha Hospital when not on active missions. Although Lee had long since moved on from his crush on the pink-haired girl, he still had a soft spot for her. He had promised to always protect her, and a promise made with the Nice Guy pose could never be broken. Truly Sakura had grown into a beautiful flower!

Arriving at the administration building, Lee left his trail of destruction behind him for a time. The Hokage had called a meeting of several prominent Jounin for a briefing, and Lee considered himself more than fortunate to be included in that number. His first mission!

Standing at the edge of the room was Hatake Kakashi, still the Leaf's Number One Technician. His stance was that of resolute boredom; he stood as if he was a thousand miles away. In one hand was the book Itcha Itcha Tactics, a most mysterious tome into which Lee had never been allowed to peek. This was partly because of the other Jounin in the room had very strong opinions on certain matters.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee! From now on, we are equal shinobi. You must no longer call me by the wonderful and super-attractive name of Gai-sensei. Instead, I am now… GAI!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

The pair of green spandex wearing ninjas embraced tightly, sobbing with joy for all they had. Kakashi looked on at this scene, his one eye twitching slightly.

"Uhh, don't you think it's time to… get started, no?"

"Ah, Kakashi. My rival, you always know the right thing to say. Oh, how infuriating that is."

Gai stood up and extended his hand to Kakashi. "Forgive my inappropriate actions, my shining rival, but surely you can understand my feelings on this day. My beautiful pupil has accomplished his dream and joined us as a Jounin of the Leaf! Much as your young charge Naruto-kun has been with us these six months past!"

Kakashi looked down at Gai's hand, then back up to the Green Beast's smiling face. Then back down to the hand. And up again. Finally he took Gai's hand and shook it once.

"Oh Gai. Kakashi. Gai! Kakashi!"

Lee cried again, the rivers of his tears flowing freely. But through the tears he pulled out a notepad and began to take notes. "So this is how Jounins behave. I must remember everything for future use."

Behind her desk, the Hokage looked on in disbelief. Oh, it was times like this that she wondered why she'd ever agreed to be Hokage in the first place. And then she would remember. Naruto. And then she would remember how it was perfectly within her power to put Naruto and his team on lost cat patrols for months. And like magic her mood would improve dramatically.

"Ahem. Lee-kun, unless you want me to put back your promotion another six months, how about you stop taking notes on these two idiots and start listening to the mission briefing."

With a loud gasp Lee dropped his notebook and saluted Tsunade. "Yes sir Hokage-sama!"

"Oh lord… Listen Lee; you have been selected for this mission because of your speed. You are to proceed to the village on the western border as fast as possible. Your mission is to assassinate this man."

Tsunade handed Lee the mission folder, and he opened it to reveal his target – a fair-haired, middle-aged man by the name of Kazuo. Apparently he'd been running an underground slave market, and the Leaf had been asked to eliminate him and his business by the leaders of the Fire Country.

"Yes!" Lee pumped his arm in the air and saluted once more.

"Kakashi and Gai will be handling the clean-up, but the assassination is all yours. And Lee… good luck."

"Thank you Hokage-sama. I shall not disappoint you."

Setting out at the edge of the village, Lee popped a soldier pill into his mouth and set off into a light sprint. Due to the essence of speed necessary for the mission he had removed his many weights before hand, thus giving him access to his maximum level of speed.

At full power Lee was now among the fastest shinobi in Konoha, and probably the world. Although Gai still eclipsed his former student in skill, Lee had long since been the faster of the two (though Gai was loathe to admit that fact just yet).

Of course this was not Lee's maximum speed. That could only be achieved with the aid of the Eight Celestial Gates, but Lee was not about to jeopardise his first Jounin mission by using such a dangerous technique. And besides, it would only take him a few hours to make the journey.

When he was only a few miles away from the outskirts of the western village, Lee slowed down to a jog (jog being a relative term, he was still going very, very fast) and advanced cautiously.

From the rooftops of the village Lee scanned for Kazuo. Lee's lack of genjutsu ability had forced him to become a master of stealth, and so despite the unfortunate habit of wearing bright green spandex Lee was somehow extremely difficult to spot.

After an hour Lee finally spotted the target and hopped down to follow him on foot. While Lee was waiting for Kazuo to reach a private or remote location so he could proceed with his mission, the trader stepped into a local china shop. So Lee waited outside. And waited. And waited.

He waited two hours outside the shop, just cheerily whistling and looking at his watch. In an extremely serious and stealthy manner, of course.

When the shop closed for the night, it occurred to Lee that perhaps his target had escaped.

"Oh, you are a crafty one; worthy indeed of my first mission as a Jounin. But I, Rock Lee, shall prevail!"

Lee sped across the rooftops to Kazuo's home. He staked it out, looking for signs of life, but there were none. So he waited, and waited some more, until the figure of Kazuo wobbled in.

"Aha!" Lee said. "My foe is clever indeed! By pretending to be under the influence of alcoholic substances, he is planning on catching me off guard! Only I could have seen through this deception."

Lee snuck into the house by using his chakra to open a window, and waited upstairs in Kazuo's bedroom.

The plan was to ambush the slaver the moment he entered his bedroom to go to sleep. He would be surprised and then Lee would move in for the kill. It was perfect! Perfect!

Of course there was a slight flaw. Just a small one. Kazuo didn't come upstairs. In fact he didn't seem to be moving about at all, judging by the lack of sound.

Lee came up with two theories: one, Kazuo was setting a trap for Lee, much like he was for Kazuo; two, he was a master of all things stealth, and was sneaking around so well that even a Jounin could not detect him.

After a moment's thought, Lee decided on the former, and then that he would have to risk it – he would fall into Kazuo's trap and rely upon his superior skills to win out.

Lightly walking downstairs, Lee caught a glimpse of a figure sprawled out on a sofa. With a flash he hurled a kunai at the man's heart, piercing it cleanly. The man cried out and then jerked up only to fall back dead.

Lee remained cautious. Obviously the figure in the darkened room was not Kazuo but a decoy, and he would have to remain alert if he wanted to be successful.

Lee crouched down and moved through the rooms of the house. Nothing. The only person in the house other than him was the corpse in the living room, which he had already established could not possibly belong to Kazuo despite any superficial similarities.

In the morning, after a long night of waiting for another chance to kill Kazuo, Kakashi contacted Lee.

"Lee. Was your mission successful?"

"Negative. Have only managed to deal with decoy target at target's home."

"Decoy… target…?"

"Yes! A person resembling the target greatly - I believe that he was used so that the real target could escape me."

"Lee. Are you… Just… Hold on, I'll be right over."

Within moments Kakashi entered the Kazuo house through the same window as Lee and met with him. Lee showed the Copy Nin the body of the decoy, making the silver-haired Jounin sigh.

"Lee, this is Kazuo. It looks like he got drunk last night and slept downstairs."

"Ah."

"Well, congratulations. You completed your first mission with no… real problems."

"Yes! I have done Gai-sensei… I mean Gai proud!"

Kakashi sighed.

**Author's Note: As requested by shadowcriminal, Rock Lee's first solo Jounin mission. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Was a lot of fun to write, though ending it was a bit tricky.**

**All I have to say now is… review! I'm having a lot of fun writing this story, so I hope you're having fun reading it. I'm not too sure what I'm going to write the next chapter about. I might (might) do an epilogue to the Fall of the Red Moon at some point. And I definitely want to write some stories about Iruka's team (though that may be a Lee overload… can you tell he's one of my favourite characters? ).**

**Goodnight everyone!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Eleven: After the Fall**

He didn't say a word the whole way back to Konoha. Not a word.

He barely moved.

His friends were all very concerned. They'd come so far and done so much just to bring him back, and now it looked like they might have failed.

They were taking turns carrying him. It wasn't that he couldn't walk on his own, but for some reason he just… wouldn't.

He didn't do anything. He didn't react to anything they said or did, no matter what.

The whole way back to Konoha. Nothing at all.

They all tried talking to him. Even Shino and Gaara. Lee told him in great detail about all the missions he'd been on; how he'd passed the Chuunin Exam; and what training he'd done. Hinata whispered some things into his ear as she blushed madly, but said aloud that she knew he'd never stop fighting. Sakura and Ino told him to cut it out if he didn't want to get a beating. Chouji tried to get him excited about the prospect of a good meal, but even that had no effect.

No jutsu Sakura knew could wake up him. Ino had tried to enter his mind only to fail. It was as if he were made of stone.

He was gone. They came to this conclusion, all of them, no matter how much they hated it.

Naruto was gone.

Naruto had stood covered in blood. Tears washed down his face, washing pale streaks through the red. He took a look at his hand still clutched in its round shape. His whole body shook as he stared at his hand as if it was completely alien. His again-blue eyes had filled with fear.

He'd opened his mouth as if to speak or scream, but no sound came out. And instead Naruto had just fallen backwards onto the stone floor. His blue eyes had just stared emptily into nothing.

His friends had carried him and Gaara out from where they'd fallen, thinking it was mere exhaustion. But Gaara had recovered. Gaara had gotten up and started walking on his own.

Naruto had not.

They marched like a funeral procession. Every single one of them was exhausted – mentally, physically and spiritually. None of them could shake the feeling; that this was a funeral procession, that they were mourning their friend.

It had been a tumultuous few days for these shinobi. Naruto had been captured. Most of them had learned his great secret. They had found the base of the Akatsuki. Together with Naruto and Gaara they had defeated the evil organisation.

And they had lost a friend, it seemed.

As they entered the Leaf village they heard the whispers. It would have been hard not to. They were trained ninjas – the best and brightest of their generation.

Some of the whispers were simply curious – wondering what had happened. Some were in amazement at the sight of the Kazekage and the Hyuuga Genius together.

But most were not so friendly. Most were filled with bile and prejudice and unreasonable hatred. Hatred for Naruto. Hatred for what he carried inside of him. And joy at seeing him incapacitated.

It took a gentle gesture from Temari to stop Gaara from unleashing the fury of his sand upon the villagers.

By the time they made it to the hospital half the group were ready to explode with rage and murder the next person who said something bad about Naruto. It was only because of the few - the very few - people who had kind words to say that Team Save Naruto had not.

Tsunade greeted them at the hospital, but the second she saw Naruto the Godaime Hokage had no time for anyone else. She drilled Sakura on Naruto's condition as she began to work. Naruto had been rushed into a ninjutsu operating room where Tsunade had access to anything she might possibly need to cure any disease or mend any wound.

Hours later there had been no change in Naruto. Not at all.

Tsunade was exhausted, every drop of chakra from her extraordinary reserves gone. Every technique she knew tried over and over. Every idea she'd had proven futile.

If Naruto was still in there, he was buried too deep for her to reach him. Which meant there was no medic-nin in the world who could.

They were still waiting when she finally left the operating room. All of them. Gaara of the Sand didn't appear to have budged an inch since she'd last seen him. The Hokage didn't need to tell them what had happened – the expression on her face was more than enough.

"What happened?" Tsunade croaked out, her voice weak.

Gaara told the full story; the first time any of the others had heard it. And only when it was done did they let themselves cry.

"What did that monster do to him?!" Shouted Sakura. "What did he do?!"

"He was a vessel whose demon had taken control. I believe he attempted to force the Kyuubi's personality to the surface and control of Uzumaki Naruto's body. It did not succeed, but the damage to Naruto's mind may have been too much for even him to bear." Gaara intoned slowly, almost thinking aloud.

Tsunade knew that if Naruto did not wake up on his own that he never would. And she knew as firmly as she knew anything in her world that if Naruto was not going to come back then she would damn well right some wrongs. Wrongs that had been perpetuated for sixteen long years.

She called a meeting. Not just any meeting. A general meeting of the village. Normally one would only be held in times of greatest crisis, but as Hokage it was her right to call one whenever she wished.

She stood on a podium, others sitting behind her, and faced the people of Konoha.

"What I have to tell you I'm sure will please most of you. I hope that it won't, but I'm being realistic. I know that it will.

"Uzumaki Naruto is in the hospital. He is in such a deep catatonic state that even I can't bring him back."

There were cheers, which were quickly silenced by the sudden rise in killing intent from Tsunade.

"I am going to tell you very clearly how this came to be.

"Yesterday, there was an organization called Akatsuki. It was composed of many of the world's worst S-Class Criminals, including Uchiha Itachi…"

There was a murmur of surprise and disgust.

"… and Orochimaru."

The murmur multiplied many times over in volume.

"This organization had one goal. To capture and control those few individuals unfortunate enough to carry demons within them. Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed inside him – the very fact that has made you all hate him also made him a target of the most evil individuals on the planet."

There was uproar at this. The Fifth had broken the most secret law of the Hidden Leaf! She had revealed to the whole village the truth about Naruto!

Tsunade did not care. It was a law made by a Hokage. It was a law that could be unmade by a Hokage.

"Naruto knew this. He also knew that there was another child like him – the Kazekage of the Sand. And he knew that Akatsuki had attacked the Sand, killing many and endangering the lives of everyone in that village just to get their hands on the Kazekage. Naruto knew that they would come here to get him.

"So he went to them instead. He let them capture him to give him a chance to rescue the Kazekage. Naruto not only accomplished this goal, but also with his own hands killed the leader of the Akatsuki organization and two of its members. As of today there is no Akatsuki. And the sole reason for this – the sole reason – is because of the brave young man you stand here condemning. He risked his life and walked right into the hands of people who wanted him solely to save your lives.

"So you can go now and cheer because the Kyuubi is in a coma and won't ever bother you again, or you can finally admit that Uzumaki Naruto is a true hero and mourn his loss. It's your choice."

Tsunade turned away from the assembled people of the Hidden Leaf. She would speak no more. But she would not be the only one to speak.

Gaara of the Desert, the Kazekage of the Sand stepped forward. He had the air of royalty, the presence of a man who knows that he will always be listened to no matter what he said.

"I am the Kazekage. I have dedicated my life to protecting my home and its people. But I have not always been so noble.

"Three years ago I was a ruthless killer. I took part in the attack on your village. And I would have destroyed it; except for the first time in my life I was defeated. Your village was saved by Uzumaki Naruto, who fought with everything he had to protect you.

"I wonder how many of you knew that before today. Without the man you condemn as a monster you would all have been killed long ago, and I would still be the monster you think him."

With that Gaara turned away as well. But more people stood up to defend Naruto. Neji reminded them of how Naruto had defeated him in the Chuunin Tournament three years prior, the very same day that he had saved the village from Gaara. He told them how Naruto had taught him that there was no such thing as fate, which was why they could not hate Naruto for the way he had been born.

Iruka told them of how he too had hated Naruto for what the Kyuubi had done. How his parents had died in that attack sixteen years ago. But how he had seen Naruto every day and realised that there was no evil in him whatsoever.

Sakura had a similar story. She told how her parents had always taught her to hate Naruto, though they never said why. She told how she had listened to them blindly. And she told how Naruto had proved himself to her countless times.

And slowly the murmurs began to change. Their prejudices had never been so openly challenged before – the Third's laws had prohibited such an event. They had only ever been able to discuss Naruto in private – the sort of privacy that breeds discontent and malice.

No one had ever stood up in front of them and simply explained why they were so wrong. And to their amazement, the villagers began to realise that their arguments didn't hold up. None of them had ever considered the fact that they might simply be wrong about the demon boy.

Slowly, the murmurs began to change.

…somewhere else, a teenager stood. His body was covered with the blood of his enemy. The blood of himself. He faced a great darkness and the huge monster that lay within it. All that could be seen past the great metal bars of its cage were two red, evil eyes.

With a rumble that came from another world and ten thousand years of eternal life, the legendary Nine Tailed Demon Fox spoke to its captor.

"YOU WIN."

"What?"

"YOU WIN, INSECT. YOU WIN."

"The great and mighty demon lord Kyuubi is admitting defeat?"

"YOU FINALLY KILLED ME. YOUR PATHETIC FATHER COULD ONLY SEAL ME AWAY, BUT YOU'VE FINALLY KILLED ME."

"…eh? You lost me, furball."

"THEY WON'T REMEMBER ME ANYMORE. JUST YOU. AS LONG AS THEY THINK OF YOU AS A HERO I'M NOTHING BUT A BAD DREAM OF THE PAST. YOU WIN."

"What?"

"THAT PITIFUL VILLAGE YOU CARE ABOUT SO MUCH. THEY'RE CHANGING. YOUR WORTHLESS DREAM IS COMING TRUE."

"My… dream…? They're… The people are…"

"YOU'LL NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU WAKE UP."

"Wake up? But… but… wake up…"

Naruto looked at his hands. The blood was fading away. No, all of him was. He almost felt as if he was in two places at once. Like he was standing there in front of the cage but at the same time lying in a hospital bed. He could feel the hot breath of the Kyuubi on his chest, but at the same time he could feel the sensors and tubes going into and out of him.

As he was about to fade out from his mindscape altogether, one last thought occurred to the boy. "Hey, what did you mean my father…?"

"Aaaaaah!"

Naruto woke from his long rest with a shout and a start, almost jumping to sit upright in his bed. He panted, his whole body covered with cold sweat. It was as if he'd awoken from a long, long nightmare.

He stood, ripping off the wires and tubes that covered him. He bled a little from the rough removal, and the sight of his blood made a peculiar memory flutter into his head. With a thought Naruto healed himself, looking in wonder as the wounds simply closed up.

He tottered to the door and opened it, leaning on the frame to keep upright.

Outside the room his friends slept, their eyes red and puffy, their faces caked with dried tears. All except Gaara, who stood silently and still watching Naruto.

"I knew you'd wake up."

"Have I let you down yet? Hey! Since they're asleep… how about we get a sheet and…"

"No."

"No? But you didn't know what I was going to say!"

"Yes I did. No."

"Bah, you're no fun."

"Perhaps. You should wake them."

Naruto thought for a moment then grinned a little.

The Leaf Seal on Naruto's forehead appeared, and a Kage Bunshin popped into existence. It performed a Henge and a small trumpet landed in Naruto's eager hands.

He flexed his fingers, tested the valves and then blew as long and loud a note as he could. The others jerked awake.

"Guess what - I'm back!"

To a one, they dog piled the blonde boy in a massive group hug.

Naruto had never felt so loved in his life.

**Author's Note: I didn't plan on writing this chapter yet, but my deadline was coming and I was feeling a little uninspired… so here it is!**

**But hey, I actually liked the way it turned out, so what does it matter why I wrote it?**

**I am manically happy to say that unless every single one of my regular reviewers (I love you guys, I really do) suddenly gets struck by lightning and falls over dead, I will reach my goal of 100 reviews with this chapter! Woo!**

**Next chapter should, should feature Iruka and his team. With Lee-sensei!**

**God I love Lee.**

**Thank you all!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twelve: Burning Passion Part One**

"Now my young students, as you are now official Genin of the Hidden Leaf, I have but one thing to tell you. But this is the most important thing I shall ever say. You all have the potential to be great ninjas, but you must find your own path. I cannot tell you how to find it. I will help you as much as I can, but your path as a ninja is yours alone to walk!

"When I was your age I was told that I would never become a ninja. But I found my own path and proved them wrong. I was told that I would never recover from injuries I received, but I proved them wrong!

"Never let anyone tell you that you cannot succeed!"

Iruka's eyes widened with awe at Lee-sensei's impassioned words. He could almost picture Lee's words being punctuated by dramatic explosions and brightly coloured smoke; such was the power of Lee's emotion.

Choumaru mumbled something that Iruka couldn't make out, and Lee shouted in response. "No! Never think that way! You have the power of youth, and you should never forget that!"

Lee looked quietly at his new students for a moment and then sighed. "This is a technique that I had hoped to save for an emergency, but it appears that it may be necessary."

Lee held up a single finger. "First, remember that you need no chakra for this. It is all heart!"

He raised a second finger. "Now picture something you want more than anything else in the world. Your greatest dream! What is it!?" He barked as a command.

"To become Hokage!" Shouted Iruka with enormous energy.

"To be respected!" Choumaru said, getting a little excited.

"To honour my family." Kazeko said softly.

"Well done! Now, my dream used to be to prove that I could become a great ninja even without any nin or genjutsu, and it only took me 17 years to accomplish! So now my dream is to be the greatest shinobi in the entire world!

"Watch me closely, my students."

Lee knelt down near them and clenched his hands into determined fists at his sides. "Summon all of the power of your beautiful youth and think of your dream!"

"Oooooooooooooooooooo!! I will be the greatest shinobi in the world!"

All three of them could clearly see it. Lee's eyes burned with passion as if they were on fire! Kazeko gasped and Iruka nodded appreciatively. "As to be expected of my sensei," he said.

"Now it is your turn, my shining stars of unlimited potential. Summon all of your power and focus on your dreams with untold passion."

Iruka thought over and over "Become Hokage, become Hokage, become Hokage, become Hokage," and felt a spark light inside his body. He funnelled that power into his eyes, and…

"Very good, very good. Now you Kazeko." Lee gave Iruka a thumbs up.

Kazeko thought quietly for a moment. She touched her hand to the fan on her back and closed her eyes. Inside she concentrated on the pictures she'd only ever seen, and opening them again she revealed a pair of burning orbs.

"Beautiful!" Lee said with a thumbs up for the Nara girl as well.

"Now Choumaru, it is your turn to show us the power of your dreams!"

"Umm, okay… I'm not sure I… I really can, but I'll try."

Choumaru thought about his whole life. He thought about how kids had always made fun of him, and how even Kazeko, Kana and Jin didn't really like him. He thought about how he'd graduated ninja academy near the bottom of his class, but that the only reason he wasn't dead last was because Nanaka Jo was almost two whole years younger than him.

He thought about all that and more, and he thought about how he longed to be someone who wouldn't be ignored and forgotten and ridiculed. And with all his power he thought of how he was going to change!

"Oooh! Your passion is admirable Choumaru! Kazeko, Iruka, you should be careful or Choumaru will blow right past you with the power of his hard work!

"This technique is perhaps the most important thing I will ever teach you. It will not win you any battles or make your body any stronger, but it is the key to the passion that will do both those things and more! By learning to temper your passion you will be able to accomplish any goal, fulfil any dream. This is my promise to you."

It was their first day as official Genin under the watch of Rock Lee. Lee was one of the Leaf's top Jounin, but more than anything else he loved teaching. All of his students had gone on to great success in whatever path they'd taken, and Lee had taught a great number of Genin over the nearly twenty years he'd been a Jounin.

The four of them had met at Lee's favourite training ground. It had been where he had trained with Gai and his own Genin team all those years ago, and where he himself had trained all of his own teams since.

Iruka had arrived first, of course. An Uzumaki was always ready and eager to get ahead! Kazeko and Choumaru had arrived together at precisely the time Lee had told them to come (which didn't stop Lee from being a little disappointed they hadn't come early).

Kazeko was a pretty twelve year old with dark hair that she tied back in two spiky tails. Her head protector was tied around her arm. She wore a kimono and strapped to her back was a large fan. Choumaru was a chubby pre-teen with a head protector pushed to the top of his forehead and a dark blue jacket and trousers covering his large body.

Iruka wore an orange and black jumpsuit – black where his sister's was white. His hair was dark too, black with a slight tint of blue, but it was every bit as spiky as his father's had been at his age. As with both his father and sister, he was distinguished with the whisker marks on both of his cheeks.

Lee talked to them for a little while, and then taught them his "secret" technique. Then the team marched to the administration building to get their first mission.

"Aha! Good morning Naruto-sama! We have come to collect the monumental first mission of Genin Team 4's career!"

Naruto smiled, at peace in his Hokage robes among the masses of paperwork. "The one we discussed, then?"

"Indeed."

"Very well. Genin Team 4, you are charged with the task of guarding a supply shipment. This is a C-Class mission, so just giving your best won't be enough. You have to work with everything you have if you want to succeed. Do your village proud."

Naruto's face grinned widely at his eldest son and his team. The three Genin all felt the power of the Hokage's charisma for the first real time and for Iruka it was a revelation. He'd never been on the other side of the desk before; never felt the power of the authority that the Hokage title brought. He'd never seen his father as anything other than a father. Never seen him as a great leader.

On the inside, past the warm, confident smile Naruto was worried. He was proud of his son, yes, but worried as well. Lee knew what he was doing – a C-Class mission was a great way to raise the confidence of his students – but Naruto still worried that it was too much. But he had faith in his son's abilities. After all, Naruto himself had taken an A-Class mission when not that much older.

The mission was scheduled for the next day, to give time for Lee to train his students a little. This was more of his expert teaching methods – to go straight into the surprise might overwhelm them, when Lee wanted them feeling prepared. They had to go into the mission thinking it was possible and then come out knowing that they had done a good job.

Lee's training method for that day was his favourite – taijutsu body training. He gave the three a set of exercises to perform and then worked gently alongside them. He didn't go all out so as not to intimidate them, but remained at an impressive level all the same.

After a few hours of general workouts he asked them for a more detailed description of their abilities so that he could concoct a specialised training programme for each of them. While training his way was excellent for taijutsu, Lee's personal training methods were mostly useless when it came to ninjutsu (except in the roundabout way that they built stamina and chakra levels), and of course his students did not suffer from the same disability as him and there was no reason why they should not train their natural abilities.

The fighting styles of his students were familiar to Lee, since he knew their parents well. Kazeko fought with her fan, but also knew the Shadow Copy. She wasn't particularly proficient in either, since she preferred the fan but had only had a small amount of instruction in its use. Choumaru used the Aikimichi style of taijutsu, as well as a supply of special medicines hidden carefully within the folds of his jacket, which he only talked about and never explained.

Iruka impressed all of them by demonstrating his proficiency with the Hyuuga Gentle Fist style (which Lee was intimately familiar with, of course), but had a few surprises as well. He had learned the Kage Bunshin from his father shortly before becoming a Genin, and his impressive stamina and chakra levels let him use it safely.

Lee advised Kazeko on several methods he thought would improve her fan technique – to raise the strength of her upper body and to practise placing chakra into the fan. His advice to Choumaru had more to do with learning to improve the timing of his jutsus, as the Aikimichi style relied on short bursts of power to dominate fights rather than drawn out battles. Lee marked out some distances on the ground and had Choumaru practise running and turning at the correct point.

To assess what Iruka needed to learn, Lee requested a short sparring session. Since he was so familiar with the Gentle Fist, and had fought against the genius of Neji through all the stages of his development, he would be most able to accurately gauge Iruka's ability through combat.

With a seal the fox boy activated his Byakugan and stood in his ready stance.

Lee probed his defence lightly. The boy's speed was lacking, but he was tough. He left a few holes in his own defence on purpose, and of those that Iruka managed to take advantage of Lee noted that not all the chakra thrusts were on target.

Lee decided the most important thing for Iruka to practice was his accuracy. He set up a two-layered target sheet, with the correct targets hidden underneath the top layer.

Choumaru and Kazeko went home that night exhausted. Iruka was a little tired, but his fox stamina kept him bursting with life. Lee was not tired at all, but then he didn't go home either – it was time for his real training to begin.

Yume was not impressed by Iruka's big news. Not at all.

"Hey! That's so unfair. Why does he get to have a C-Class mission straight away and I'm stuck mowing lawns and feeding cats?"

"Well, Lee specifically requested the mission. Konohamaru wants you to warm up on D-Class for a while before you take something more dangerous." Naruto said calmly over his ramen.

"But daaaaaaad!"

"Yume, you're a ninja now. That's not going to work."

"Fine!"

The next morning Iruka parted ways with a still put-off Yume and headed for the gates of the village. Speeding there, he met up with the walking Kazeko and Choumaru and slowed down to join his team-mates.

"Hey, you guys excited?" Iruka asked.

Kazeko smiled and nodded, but Choumaru could only whimper. His mind raced with thoughts of bandits and robbers and enemy assassins.

"It's going to be awesome! Us and Lee-sensei fighting to protect the secret shipment!"

"It's not secret, moron, it's just food." Kazeko stared at Iruka like he was a total idiot.

"Heh, yeah I know. But it's more fun my way, no? If you just look at it properly then it's not all that much more interesting than what the other guys are doing. I doubt there'll be anything more exciting than visiting another village. But hey, we've got to expect the worst if we don't want to be caught off guard, right?"

"Bah," Kazeko said. "I guess you're right. Still a moron though."

The wagon was by the gates to the village, and Lee-sensei was there leaning against it relaxed. He brightened up the moment he saw the trio.

"My students! Are you ready to embark on our journey to adventure and success? Show me the power of youth with your answer!"

"YES SIR!" All three responded at once, their eyes burning.

"Then onwards we go! To glory!"

**Author's Note: Yep, you saw right. Part one. The sequel will have the rest of their mission, which of course will go horribly wrong (it'd be no fun otherwise, right?).**

**All I can say is this – oh my god! I expected to top 100 reviews with the last chapter. I NEVER expected to get over 30 reviews in a day! I'm just gob smacked. I can barely believe my eyes – this little fic that I started to keep writing something while I was away from school, the one I never thought I'd manage to maintain interest in past a handful of chapters… it's surpassed anything I ever dreamed for it.**

**I really feel like if I keep going I'll be able to challenge the likes of Two Halves, Flowing Stones and From Cherub to Devil (three of my all time faves). I know that's probably impossible, but the simply overwhelming support has just blown me away. Wow. 130 something reviews, and I can count the negative ones on the fingers of one hand. And even they weren't all that negative in the slightest. Just wow.**

**Wow. **

**I can say for certain that without your support I wouldn't be so excited about writing these stories as I am. And to think there are even people praising the narrative method that I designed just to help maintain my own interest!**

**At the risk of sounding like a broken record – wow. **

**Anyway, next chapter will either be the continuation of this or the promised Kakashi action chapter.**

**Thank you so much.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**I have a warning. Up until now, I think the story I've told has been on the most part happy. This will always be the case. But only for the most part. This chapter, then, may seem like a major departure to what has come before. I'm sorry if you don't enjoy it because of that.**

**Chapter Thirteen: Tragedy**

"You were supposed to be at the wedding old man. I didn't expect you to show up on time, but I thought you'd at least make it there."

It might have been raining. Naruto would never remember for sure, in the years to come. It might not have been raining. But he certainly felt as if rain would have been appropriate.

"But we'll come visit. Right after the ceremony, I promise."

The Sixth Hokage stood over the stone tablet. His eyes, normally so filled with brilliant life were darkened by sorrow and rage.

He wasn't wearing his Hokage robes. He wasn't wearing the orange and black suit he wore on missions, or the flame-tipped robe he'd inherited from his father. He wore a set of clothes with great personal meaning to him. His original set had been destroyed long ago, and besides they would have been far too small, but Hinata had given him an adult-sized replica as a present for his last birthday.

Naruto traced three names on the face of the memorial.

Uchiha Obito.

Inuzaka Rin.

Hatake Kakashi.

Naruto was wearing the clothes he had worn the first time he ever met Kakashi.

"You idiot. You spent so much time standing here, and now you get to be here with them forever."

Time passed with Naruto just standing there. It barely even registered to him that he was no longer alone.

"Naruto… how did it happen?"

Sakura and Sasuke. Team 7 together again.

Naruto didn't answer, or even acknowledge their presence. Together they stepped forward to stand either side of their friend. Sasuke put a hand supportively on Naruto's left shoulder, and Sakura hugged one arm around the fox man's waist, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy from too many tears.

They stood there like that together.

After ten minutes, Naruto said just one word.

"Orochimaru."

It had been the last thing they expected. The Leaf was blossoming - under the rule of the Rokudaime, and with the genius of Nara Shikamaru as assistance the Leaf was entering its golden age. Their ties with the other hidden villages were stronger than ever. The economy was booming. The current generation of ninjas was beyond remarkable, having produced a new set of Legendary Sannin in the Hokage and his two team-mates, as well as a batch of elite Jounin greater in number than ever before.

No one had expected the attack.

The Sannin were out of Konoha on a diplomatic mission to the Stone. It was the perfect time for the strike.

It began with a fiendishly clever first move. A move no one except Orochimaru could ever have made, simply because there was no one else with both the skill and the inhumanity necessary.

Orochimaru had been experimenting on human subjects for decades, and he had discovered amazing things. But terrible, terrible things as well.

The Eight Celestial Gates, when opened, will unlock the absolute maximum power of the human body and its chakra potential.

The Curse Seal that Orochimaru had developed did the same, but in a controlled form. It mutated the body of its user so that it could handle the strain.

There were few who could use either method. And fewer still who could use them without dying. But Orochimaru didn't care about his subjects surviving in the slightest. They were just human weapons.

He devised a third method of extracting maximum power from a body. It would only work for a few seconds before killing the user, but that was all he needed for his purpose.

Inside their bodies Orochimaru implanted a series of scrolls. The first let him control their every action. The second was his chakra death technique. And the third, the third was something very simple indeed. A simple explosive note, modified ever so slightly.

They were just normal people. Just every day, regular people. Not ninjas. Not anyone you might consider special. They were just normal citizens.

Sacrifices.

They walked into the village without any problems. They were just normal people, after all – what could they ever do to a village of supremely powerful ninjas.

There were nine of them in total. The procedure was both draining and expensive – Orochimaru could only have managed a few more at best. But it was a number that the Snake Sennin found most amusing and most ironic.

Nine had been the Akatsuki.

Nine had been the group to which his former apprentice belonged.

Nine had been the tails of the demon fox.

They walked to different points in the village, seemingly chosen at random, and then they waited for the final order.

It came.

Chakra erupted from every pore of their flesh with a fury no one could have expected. Immediately Leaf shinobi moved into action, but before any could get close enough it was too late. The chakra flowed imperfectly into the explosive notes, triggering the latent jutsu but multiplying its effect over and over.

Over four hundred people died in the attack, citizen and shinobi alike. The damage to buildings and infrastructure was greater than any one attack or even war had ever dealt to the Leaf. It was the worst tragedy since the Kyuubi's attack almost twenty years past.

Hatake Kakashi, elite Jounin, stepped over some of the still-steaming rubble. He sniffed the air twice, and then spoke so softly it was almost a growl.

"Orochimaru."

"You're sure sir?" a young Jounin subordinate of Kakashi's asked. Most Jounin have equal status, despite however many years difference in experience there might be, but Kakashi was special. He had trained the Sannin, after all, it was to be expected that the Hokage would grant him special powers.

"I can smell it. Chakra is developed mentally as well as physically, and no one has a mind quite as twisted as Orochimaru's. This is his work alright. And if I know him, then he's close. He would never resist the temptation to watch the Leaf burn."

Kakashi stood up from where he had been crouched and turned away.

"Your one and only mission is to save as many lives as you can. I'll handle Orochimaru. Understood?"

"Y-yes sir!"

Kakashi walked out of the village slickly but intently. He could track Orochimaru. He'd learned to do just that at his father's knee.

The monster in the form of a man stood atop a high hill, looking down on the devastation he'd wreaked. A soft smile was on his face. On anyone else it might have been a smile of love.

But Orochimaru was not anyone else.

He saw the form of Hatake Kakashi and laughed. It wasn't a joyful laugh; Orochimaru was incapable of such a feat. It was a mocking laugh. It spoke as if he couldn't believe this was the best the Leaf had to send against him.

In a way the laugh was right. Kakashi was among the strongest of the Leaf, which could not be denied by anyone, but Orochimaru was a man who had killed Kages with his own hands. He was in another class altogether.

Kakashi knew all of this. He knew it better than anyone else might have done; because this was not the first time he'd faced Orochimaru. He knew the Sannin's power truly frightening because he'd experienced it firsthand.

But Kakashi was fighting in the stead of the Hokage. He was going to make sure that Orochimaru didn't hurt even one more citizen of the village he loved.

"You should have brought everyone you had, Kakashi-kun."

Orochimaru's voice was even higher than the Copy Nin remembered – a sign that he'd possessed a new body once more. No doubt young and strong.

Kakashi was not intimidated by this. He knew that going alone had been the only thing to do. The first priority of the village's shinobi was to their own wounded, not to revenge. And Orochimaru would have fled if he'd brought the full force of Konoha's wrath upon him anyway.

"If you underestimate me Orochimaru you will die. Don't forget – I have the one thing you've always wanted. Despite all your plans you've never managed to get your hands on a Sharingan, have you?"

With one hand he lifted the head protector that covered his Sharingan eye. The dying gift of the best friend Kakashi had ever had.

Standing one eye closed one Sharingan open, Kakashi faced Orochimaru with a strong stance and determined will.

"Ku ku Kakashi-kun, don't you think you have that backwards? You are just a lowly Jounin while I am the strongest ninja in the world. You are the one underestimating my power."

Kakashi had to laugh, even if all he could allow was a short chuckle.

"Strongest in the world? Your memory must be failing in your old age. What about the Yellow Flash?"

Orochimaru sneered. "Dead."

"Tsunade-sama?"

"A pitiful woman."

"Jiraiya-sama?"

He hesitated, if only for a moment. "In…insignificant."

"The White Fang?"

Orochimaru's yellow eyes flashed with inner bile. "Your father."

"I told you not to underestimate me. I am my father's son."

Orochimaru held his long arms out openly, palms open. "Then by all means come, son of the White Fang."

Kakashi dashed towards Orochimaru in an instant sprint, and the second he got within range jabbed towards Orochimaru's face with a blurred fist. Orochimaru dodged by just bending his head back further than any human ever could. Kakashi followed up with a second jab, which Orochimaru caught easily… only to find himself bleeding. In the split second that Orochimaru's eyes were too far back to see, Kakashi had placed a shuriken in his hand, knowing how the Snake Sannin would react in advance. It had cut deep, and blood was flowing much freer than the monster named Orochimaru would have liked.

Orochimaru grimaced and in a lightning-flash wrapped his freakishly long tongue around Kakashi's neck, and with one powerful flex of the muscle snapped it.

The broken log fell to the ground, and Orochimaru turned completely to face Kakashi.

"Kukuku… So the warm-up is over, is it?"

"You tell me. I'm not the one who is bleeding."

Kakashi began a series of seals, and Orochimaru followed suit with his own. Orochimaru finished first, and with a final seal he summoned forth an enormous dragon of fire that engulfed Kakashi whole.

"Kage Bunshin? I see…"

Another Kakashi appeared as the flame dragon dissipated, and again it began to perform a set of seals. Orochimaru smiled grimly and started his own jutsu. A wide area one this time, to catch Kakashi wherever the real one was hiding.

Water began to condense from the air around Orochimaru, a sign of the sheer power of the Suiton jutsu he was working. But just a split-second before the Snake could form the last chakra pattern Kakashi disappeared under the ground. The enormous wave of water formed around Orochimaru too late. For a second it stood like a tower surrounding the Sannin before crashing down in every direction.

It would have killed Kakashi instantly, if only he hadn't been safely underground.

But then that was the beauty of his plan.

Kakashi knew full well he stood no chance against Orochimaru in a straight battle, which is why he'd thought ahead. Even if Orochimaru had ten times as much chakra as Kakashi, if the Copy Nin could force him to expend that chakra at a rate far in disproportion to Kakashi's own, then he could level the battlefield.

His eyes narrowing with a mixture of surprise and hatred, Orochimaru prepared an earth destruction jutsu, and unleashed it with a cold-burning fury. The ground shattered for a hundred metres around the dark haired monster, but in the exact moment that he executed the jutsu a realisation came to the Snake Master. Something was not right; he was fighting sloppier than he had in years.

"Sharingan Kakashi, mm? I should have expected this." He felt like laughing.

Orochimaru leapt high into the air, using another high-class jutsu. Smearing the blood from his hand wound over his arm tattoo, he summoned a group of spear-like snakes in mid air, and sent them flying down to pierce through the ground where he had been standing.

Even through the earth and rock the distinct sound of flesh being pierced could be heard, and Kakashi burst out of the ground nearby. He'd dodged underground at the last second, but one of the spears still caught him, and it was lodged through his side.

Kakashi pulled the snake out of his body and crushed its head in his hand, tossing it aside. He faced Orochimaru.

The Snake Sannin laughed chillingly. "Kukuku.. I see through your plan, Kakashi-kun." He closed his eyes. "You were using your Sharingan to control my actions, no? I envy you. But all I have to do is close my eyes and your plan is defeated."

He opened his mouth wider than a normal human jaw could go, and from within his throat a black snake's head appeared. In turn it opened its mouth, and Orochimaru drew out the legendary sword of Kusanagi.

"In case you think this puts you at an advantage, little Fang, remember that snakes use their tongues to track prey."

Chakra formed around Kakashi's hand. So much that it became visible to the naked eye, not that Orochimaru could see. But his ears worked just fine, and the sound of the Thousand Birds was very distinct.

Kakashi dashed across the ground at Orochimaru as fast as he could. His Sharingan eye could see every move that Orochimaru was about to make, but over the ruined earth he just couldn't move fast enough, and he was too slow to hit the dancing Snake Sennin. He narrowly dodged the slicing motion of the Kusanagi, but it took a few strands of his silver hair with it.

Releasing the Chidori, Kakashi drew his own sword. A replica of one his father had used – the white chakra blade of the Leaf's White Fang. It had taken years to recreate.

White bursts of light sparked as the chakra-infused steel crossed the legendary Kusanagi steel. At short range in taijutsu Kakashi had the definite edge with his Sharingan over the blind Snake, but he was tiring quickly. He'd done well to wear down Orochimaru this far, but his wound was too bad to carry on for too long.

Kakashi's movements were slowing, and Orochimaru could feel it, so he decided to remove the Jounin's sole edge once and for all. As they pushed blade against blade, Orochimaru probed for an opening, and when it came… he slashed narrowly right across the silver haired Jounin's face.

The blade pierced both of Kakashi's eyes. His own eye, and the Sharingan that had been the dying gift of his greatest friend.

Pressing his advantage immediately, Orochimaru slashed open the Jounin's chest, ripping his flesh. Blood spurted everywhere, staining the Snake's sword red.

Kakashi fell to the ground, his blade knocked out of his hand.

"Uchiha… Obito… The last thing he ever gave me… You…

"YOU DESTROYED HIS LEGACY!"

Kakashi burned with a fire he'd never known before. The same fire that gives the Hokage their strength. A fire he'd barely felt the slightest ember of since all those years ago when he'd found the corpse of his father.

He used that fire. He channelled it and everything he had left into his right arm.

Obito.

Kakashi brought his arm up in one strong motion, and his Chidori touched against the sword of Kusanagi.

Rin.

At first the two blades pushed back against each other, but the Chidori was called Lightning Edge for good reason.

Sensei.

The sword shattered.

Sasuke.

It exploded into shrapnel in Orochimaru's hand, the fragments flying wildly.

Naruto.

The largest fragment ripped through Orochimaru's left eye, and the pale Sannin cried out in pain.

Sakura.

Kakashi, his body shard-pierced many times, brought his left hand up and with a flare of white light sliced straight through the villain's arm.

FATHER!

And fell.

"That's how it happened."

Naruto was angry, that was obvious. His fists were clenched so tightly they drew blood. Sasuke and Sakura could both feel the chakra of the Kyuubi rising to the surface, filling the clearing with a pressure the intensity of which they'd felt only a handful of times in all the years they'd known each other.

"You know how many lives we could have saved, if we'd been here? Hundred of people are dead for the sole reason that we weren't here to save them! And Kakashi is gone because he fought a battle that's supposed to be mine!

"What the hell kind of Hokage am I?! I'm going to resign. I've screwed up for the last time. I'm just going to resign and let someone more competent take the job. I was crazy to think that an idiot like me could ever be Hokage!"

Sakura took him into her arms, and he rested his head in the hollow of her neck. Sasuke embraced him from behind as the blonde cried long, wracking gasps of grief into Sakura's shoulder.

"You were born to be Hokage Naruto."

Sasuke spoke in almost a whisper.

"Orochimaru would never have attacked if you were here, and your duty as Hokage took you away. If the Stone had started a war, don't you think people would have died in that as well?"

"That.. that.. doesn't stop the.. stop the" Naruto struggled to speak through the sobs. "the truth… I failed."

"No you didn't." Sasuke's pain-filled voice droned lifelessly.

Sakura finished for him.

"We failed."

**Author's Note: It's done. This chapter took a lot out of me.**

**I think it's the best work I've done on this story, though you may disagree.**

**I said at the start it wasn't going to be a happy chapter. But I think it was a good one, and it was definitely an important one. **

**Well, in other news, the manga is basically totally diverging from what I've already established here. Which is good in some ways (and exactly what I expected), because I want to tell my own stories anyway. Although that's not to say I won't incorporate anything awesome that comes around.**

**Next chapter should be the second part of Burning Passion.**

**Thanks everyone, and reviews would be nice. I will no longer beg for them because I've almost topped 150!**

**Now for sleep.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Fourteen: Burning Passion 2**

_Last chapter Iruka's Genin team got their first mission – a C-Class mission picked by Lee to build their confidence. They are to escort a shipment of food to a nearby village._

The wagon moved at a gentle pace, and all four shinobi could more than comfortably keep up. They could have gone faster, but the Genin's stamina would never have sustained prolonged speed… yet, Lee thought. With his training that would soon change! Yes, under the watch of his careful and knowing eye, all three would blossom into proud and beautiful flowers of the Leaf!

Occasionally along the walk Lee would burst into short explosions of laughter at his internal monologue. Uzumaki Iruka, Nara Kazeko and Aikimichi Choumaru would raise their eyebrows and sigh at their sensei's antics. After a few days of typical Lee insanity they were starting to get a little weary of some of his strange habits. Not that they didn't all think he was completely awesome, but the sudden anxiety of being on a C-Class mission as rookie Genins was overwhelming.

They'd laughed it off before they left, but now that they were out there things seemed a little different. Everything seemed so… open. There were no buildings, just trees and a wide road. They felt like an attack could come from anywhere at any time. It was nerve wracking.

They knew, intellectually that there was very little chance of there ever being any trouble on the mission. Statistics didn't lie. And the odds were that any action they did see would be very minor indeed. There just wasn't any real chance that they'd have to fight for their lives.

Of course statistics rarely take into account the presence of an Uzumaki.

Some did, actually, but they were more typically related to the ramen consumption rate than the frequency of ninja attacks on low-level escort missions.

From behind, they all heard the sound. A rasping, desperate laugh.

"Aheh… heh… haha… ha… haaa"

It was the sound of someone who had found new life at the final moment. Lee knew it well.

The second they heard it all four ninjas increased their guard. They had felt a weak chakra before, but travelling a road that was nothing special. Lots of people walked these roads. But that laugh… was not normal.

Lee understood something from it that his three students could only sense instinctively. They all felt the danger, but of the four it was only the Jounin who had the experience and the knowledge to truly understand.

The laugh had been one of desperation, yes. But there was an order to it. The voice was controlled. And throughout it had been an undercurrent of hostility, subtle enough that few would have been able to detect it.

But Lee was no ordinary shinobi.

In some ways that was his curse. He could never use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. He had struggled for more than thirty years to succeed in the harsh world of the ninja; a world where he was the eternal underdog. He would never be able to do the things that every other ninja could do with their eyes closed.

But that was his strength.

Lee would never be able to make a Bunshin or use a Katon jutsu. So he didn't have to worry about them. He didn't have to spend time learning seals and complex ways of using chakra. All he had to do was work harder than anyone else had ever worked on the skills that every ninja had.

Piece of cake.

Everything basic that any ninja could do to some degree – Lee was an absolute master. He could move faster, hit harder, hear better. He could run swifter, sneak quieter, fight longer.

Simply put, Lee was a master of the basics.

And the basics told him that the man following them was trouble.

Perfect.

"State your name and business," Lee said as he turned, though he knew the answer the second he caught a look at the man following them. He gave the signal to stop the supply wagon.

"Boruna of the Dead. My business… I'm hungry."

He certainly looked it. His frame was muscular, but emaciated beyond belief. His eyes were sunken back in his skull, and when he moved he gave the impression of being nothing more than bones propelled on pure will.

He wore trousers that hung loose, tied tightly round his waist, and no top. His wasted chest was in full view, giving the Genin kids an unpleasant look at his body that would have been more at home in a medical textbook.

Boruna had always been thin; Lee knew that. But not this thin.

His entry in the bingo book was not particularly detailed. He was an S-Class missing-nin of the Hidden Village of Grass

"You can have some of my food, I don't mind," said Choumaru, reaching behind his back. He took some food from his pack – an Aikimichi always carried lots of food with them, it was essential – and threw it in a smooth arc. The packages landed softly on the smooth dirt ground at Boruna's feet.

"Oh… thank you very much kind sir…" Boruno said weakly, smiling at Choumaru, who beamed back. "No problem! The hungry should eat!"

"Thank you, but…" Boruno's smile turned to a scowl. "I can't take trash like this!"

His right foot came down on the packages with a surge of chakra and a strength that belied his withered form. They were destroyed utterly. The crumbs were pressed down into the dirt in an imprint of the missing-nin's foot.

The shock on Choumaru's face was evident. It was if the strike had hit him and not the packages. An Aikimichi never wastes food. An Aikimichi never lets anyone go hungry. To a member of the Aikimichi family there is nothing more sacred than the meal that is the source of their power. All of these were lessons Choumaru had been learning since the day he was born from his father.

To see someone so hungry treat food as nothing but trash was an insult to his entire family's philosophy! He boiled with anger below his meek surface.

"I won't be satisfied with charity! I'll take what I want with my own hands!"

His left hand shook a little as he held it out. It had been clenched in a tight fist the whole time, though not one with any power behind it. He opened it out, still shaking, and showed the four Leaf-nins what he held: four blades of grass.

Lee smiled strangely, but Kazeko smirked "You're not going to get anything with some grass."

"No," Boruno said; his voice strangely haunted by some old pain.

Chakra gathered in his hand, and each blade glowed. They turned from their dull green into a sharp black, and on his shaking palm each blade stood quivering with power.

Lee watched all this calmly.

Across Boruno's emaciated chest a symbol began to burn red. It was a huge seal, encompassing half his body, and with its rise the Grass-nin screamed in pain.

Lee watched unblinkingly as the Genin three stared cluelessly wondering.

The seal seemed to melt from his chest, and like liquid fire it flowed down his left arm and into his palm. A tiny replica appeared on all four blades, and with that and a savagely quick flick of his wrist Boruno hurled them to the ground.

Like tiny blades where they landed the road was pierced cleanly.

The red seals pulsed on their black backgrounds, and with each heart-like beat the blades grew.

The Leaf ninjas looked on in wonderment save Lee, whose eyes would not once abandon their analytical bearing. Part of the three kids knew they should be charging him, knew that while he was setting up his jutsu the missing-nin was vulnerable. But the pressure… none of them had ever felt anything like it, save Iruka, and even though the pressure at that time had been so much greater, seeing his father in a demonic fox form hadn't been as scary as this. He knew that his dad would never hurt him – with Boruno he had no such confidence.

The blades grew with a strange hissing sound and the heartbeat of the seal. In just seconds they were the size of a human, and as they grew the hissing became clearer and clearer – it was no hiss, it was a scream.

With one final pulse of the blood-red seal, and a puff of ninjutsu smoke the blades completed their transformation.

"Spirit Bunshin no Jutsu… complete." Boruno said in a weak gasp.

Lee smiled.

There were four of them, and they stood in fighting stances. They all wore the uniform of Waterfall Jounins, but other than that there were no similarities between the four. In almost every way they looked like four different but real shinobi. Except they, just like their master, gave the strange impression of being nothing but skeletons. But while Burono managed that effect through his husk of a body, the four Spirit Bunshins did it because they were more transparent than not. They looked like spirits indeed.

"My last four kills… impressed? Anyone I've killed I can bring back to fight for me… I'll take what I want with my own strength, nothing else! And you will join my army of the Dead."

Even Iruka was terrified at this, and he was braver by far then Kazeko or Choumaru, who practically cowered at the missing-nin's words. But Lee spoke to them in confident tones. "There are four of them. Do you know what that means, my youthful students?"

They didn't respond.

"It means there's one each."

With a motion so fast that no one, not even Boruno, saw it, Lee was towering over the form of the first Spirit Bunshin, his right arm extended in an impossibly powerful swing deep into the body of the Bunshin, which disappeared in another puff of smoke.

A single blade of grass floated in the air down to the surface of the road.

"They're just a ninjutsu," Lee said calmly. "Just a trick. The heart seal stores a memory of the people he kills and projects it into a Bunshin. Boruno of the Dead is renowned for defeating his foes with nothing more than a psychological edge.

"With this knowledge in mind, he is no match for us!"

Boruno groaned and growled as Lee spoke. "Don't listen to him! I killed those Jounins with my bare hands, and many more!"

With a surprising speed he dashed at Choumaru, who was the closest to him of the three Genins, but just as he was about to connect with his fist there was the green figure of Rock Lee intercepting. And as before, no one even saw him move. With one hand up, Lee sealed the charge of the Grass-nin completely.

"Choumaru, I believe you have a score to settle with Burono here, no?"

The skeletal man gathered his chakra to his right hand and tried for another punch, this time at Lee. But just as last time, it was blocked completely by one simple movement.

Choumaru gulped and shook. He loathed this enemy ninja, and at that moment he wanted nothing more than to hurt him… but his arm just wouldn't move. None of him would. The intensity of the air around the two Jounins was too much for the rookie.

Lee continued. "Your father would never let someone who wasted food like that go free."

The boy's fist hammered through the air with the sound of a cannon, catching Burono clean in his shrunken belly and hurling him away. With a primal cry Choumaru charged, using his family's speciality jutsu the Multi-Size, and then their taijutsu Meat Tank.

As a giant ball, Choumaru rolled at a deadly speed towards one of the Spirit Bunshins, flattening it entirely. Only smoke rose up from where he passed.

Once down, he reverted to his normal form and, panting, lifted two fingers. "Two down, Lee-sensei!" He split the two fingers, forming a victory sign.

Energized by their team-mate's success, both Kazeko and Iruka blurred into motion. Iruka closed in on his Bunshin, his Byakugan blood limit activated. Kazeko leapt to stand lightly on the covered top of the wagon, and opened her fan. With a shout of "Kamaitachi!" a gale blast of wind blades sliced through the air at her target. It struck at the same time as Iruka delivered a light blow to his opponent's chest.

As her Bunshin stood on its last legs, Kazeko prepared another wave of chakra wind and teased Iruka "You're going to need to work harder than that, Iruka-kun!"

But Iruka grinned, and before Kazeko could move her arms to swing her fan the final time, Iruka's Bunshin clutched at its chest and disappeared.

Wow, thought Kazeko. One hit. Iruka was a little cooler than she'd thought. Her Bunshin disappeared before even the full power of her second Kamaitachi came to bear.

That left just one enemy still standing. Burono himself. He'd clawed his way back to his bony feet during the Genin strike, and stood with daggers in his sunken eyes, staring with killing intent at Rock Lee. But then…

A wild laugh came, manic with the joy of the rush that can only come from fighting against all odds. "You won't be fighting Lee-sensei just yet…

"Your opponent is me!"

Iruka stood in the traditional stance of a Hyuuga warrior, with one key difference.

There were three of him.

"Uzumaki Style Gentle Fist!"

"Uzumaki?! You can't be... The son of the Leaf's Orange Shadow?!"

Iruka said nothing, his Byakugan eyes delving mercilessly through Boruna.

The son is not the father, the missing-nin told himself. Boruno was an S-Class criminal. The kid looked like he was fresh out of the academy. An easy victory for him, for definite.

He moved forward, and the Irukas waited for him calmly.

Burono didn't know about the Gentle Fist, though he recognized the Kage Bunshin as the favourite move of the Rokudaime Hokage. So he couldn't have known exactly how he fell into Iruka's trap.

He advanced on the real Iruka, the one who had spoken, and with his chakra gathered to his fist and legs, dashed with astonishing speed. With death in his mind and air filled with killing intent, his fist flashed forward like the jaw of a snake, tearing into the flesh of the eleven year old rookie.

Only for the supposedly real Iruka to puff away as a cloud of smoke.

In that instant, when his arm was at its full outstretched reach, the two Irukas who now surrounded him struck with blades of chakra. The one to Burono's right was closest to the extended arm, and disabled it with a flurry of gentle blows. The muscles of his arm were now useless, and it fell lifeless at the Grass-nin's side.

The second Iruka worked on the other arm, disabling it with just as much speed until it too was dead.

Burono was stunned by this attack, and before he could understand what had happened it was too late. Like mirror images of each other, the two Irukas disabled his body in simultaneous combat beauty. His team-mates watched in awe, and Lee with pride. Kazeko had to admit now – he was actually quite a bit cooler than she'd thought.

As one, Iruka and his clone struck Burono one final time, and he fell, coughing blood.

"Well done Iruka! Your idea to use lighter thrusts at a greater rate to compensate for your lack of accuracy was superb indeed. However…"

Lee-sensei tossed a kunai to the ground in front of the dark-haired Genin. It clearly was not a Konoha make. "Had I not stepped in during his initial charge, you might well have fallen."

Lee stepped over to the moaning form of Burono of the Dead, patting Iruka on the back as he did in affectionate pride. But to Burono his mood was completely different, like ice so cold it burnt.

"You made several mistakes," Lee began distastefully. "Firstly, you attacked a group of ninja in perfect condition while you were weak from starvation. Secondly, you relied on a psychological attack that could easily be seen through, and did not press this advantage in the small window this gave you. Thirdly, you wasted your chakra in futile attempts to defeat the Proud Beast of the Lead in taijutsu.

"And fourthly, you underestimated the burning passion of youth and strength in my students!"

**Author's Note: Another chapter down, and the end of this little arc, though there'll probably be a follow-up chapter soon enough.**

**I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I decided to take a day off. The schedule was really getting to me. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep well, and so I've been tired all day today, so this chapter took forever to write (I even started writing it early!). But it's done now, so who cares?**

**Phew.. I'm not sure what the next chapter will be yet, though I have several vague possibilities, and plenty of emergency ideas in my "Uninspired Day" drawer.**

**I'm afraid I might have to start updating less frequently soon as real life gets more involved. I've loved these past two weeks, but the strain has been immense, and it's only because I haven't had anything to do that I've been able to write this much. Pretty soon that won't be the case.**

**But I don't intend to stop writing this fic any time soon. I might, might start work back up on my other fic "Freedom" (read it and tell me what you think!), which I put an awful lot of work into (I did a full story synopsis with character breakdowns and power analysis, plus detailed synopses for each individual chapter.. but I got all of 2 reviews and was completely discouraged (the opposite of this fic!), plus I got seriously ill which screwed up my life in lots of ways for a long time. If I do start working on Freedom it'll be as a side-project to this story anyway.**

**Well, since Tombadgerlock asked me to revive my bad habit, I am now begging for reviews once more! Give me reviews! Reviews! Reviiiiiieeeeeeeewws!!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Fifteen: Silent Cheering**

Uzumaki Naruto was given the rank of Jounin at the age of sixteen. He had never been a Chuunin.

The promotion was part of the celebration of the defeat of Akatsuki, in which Naruto, Gaara and their friends were given honours by every ninja village on the continent.

The ceremony took place in Konoha two months after the defeat of the demon-possessed Red Moon, and in attendance the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist and, of course, the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand, as well as representatives from each of the other villages.

Each of the fourteen shinobi who'd taken part in the operation were honoured, though the highest honours were of course given to Naruto because of the bravery he'd shown in allowing himself to be captured and the strength he'd shown in killing the Akatsuki leader. As well as the promotion to Jounin, Naruto was given awards and medals by all of the villages recognizing his deeds. The Akatsuki consisted of some of the worst criminals in history, and as a group the organization had been perhaps the greatest known threat in the world, to any of the villages. The crimes that the individuals alone had committed might have warranted celebration at their demise, and as a group the threat had multiplied tenfold.

As Kazekage, Gaara needed no promotion, though he accepted all honours offered with quiet dignity.

Sakura was also given the promotion to Jounin, though Tsunade had told her earlier in the private announcement that her pay would be docked for a few months. The same was true of Shikamaru, who sighed at the news. Lee, Shino and Hinata were all given a six-month probationary period before they would take the rank for having killed Akatsuki members, but Hinata had declined saying that she'd only delivered the final blow, and she didn't want to become a Jounin until she felt she truly deserved the title.

Neji, Temari and Kankurou had all already become Jounin, so there was no need to promote them despite the strength and bravery they'd shown or the feats they'd accomplished. Kiba, Ino and Chouji were being honoured but weren't quite considered ready for the responsibility of a Jounin position.

Naruto stood at the front of a podium alongside his friends. He was in the middle, and standing slightly in front of them. The first honour he was awarded with was his Jounin vest, draped over his shoulders by Tsunade, who whispered a short "Congratulations," in his ear.

Next Gaara gave him the Gold Wind, the highest medal of the Hidden Sand. He said nothing.

And so things proceeded, with each village's representatives handing out the requisite awards. The Jounin from the Hidden Rain gave Hinata their highest honour, though she didn't feel worthy of it.

There was even a representative from the Hidden Sound, though he was almost refused entry to the village. He had been checked thoroughly to make sure he was who he said he was, but in the end the Leaf had let him in for the ceremony. He gave to Naruto a special award, even though Naruto felt more like killing him than accepting a medal from Orochimaru's village, but he took it all the same.

When Naruto left the Leaf to rescue Gaara, he had been almost universally hated.

When he returned, the people had begun to see him in a different light.

When he stepped forward, covered in medals and wearing his brand-new vest, he was greeted with cheers. He raised a single hand in the air and the crowd went berserk.

One person above all others was pleased, though she only cheered silently. Hinata was really happy to see Naruto gain the acknowledgement he'd always needed, but in a way she was sad as well. She wasn't special anymore. When she'd been the only one who ever respected Naruto she'd felt a little superior to everyone who couldn't see beyond their prejudices and his brash mask. Now that so many others did the same, she had nothing to feel better about. It was a major blow to the self-confidence she'd worked so hard to build up.

It didn't help that Naruto was getting popular among the girls of Konoha. Before, he'd been a short, weak loudmouth. Now he was tall, strong and a hero. Hinata had always thought he was handsome, but now it was obvious to everyone else as well. And that thought was disturbing. It was lucky Naruto was so clueless about women.

Hinata had always felt that when girls finally noticed Naruto she'd have lost her chance to be with him forever – after all, she was convinced that she was nothing but plain and weak, not worthy of someone as wonderful as Naruto. That wasn't the case in the slightest, of course, but it didn't seem like anything could stop Hinata from thinking like that.

Hinata had never felt like she could compete with Sakura, or with any other girl. She'd known how Naruto had looked at Sakura, but the pink-haired kunoichi had never ever shown the slightest interest in Naruto beyond simple friendship. Hinata had known that if Sakura had ever returned Naruto's feelings that would have been the end, and for years it had been the blue-haired Hyuuga's greatest fear.

But, as it turned out, seeing girls other than her look at Naruto was a lot different than the way Hinata had dreaded it all that time. Instead of a feeling of defeat or loss, seeing village girls blush at Naruto filled her with anger, and with a determination to succeed.

Having just now become a Jounin, Naruto was busy with A and S-Class missions, and was waiting for the next batch of Genins so he could become a real sensei. But besides that, he was, fittingly enough, training like a man possessed.

Hinata spent her time outside of missions training as well. While Naruto had been gone for those three years, training had been the only real way she could feel like he was still beside her. She'd promised him she wouldn't give up, even if it had been a one-sided oath he'd never actually heard, and so she had thrown herself into her work with everything she had. If the dark girl couldn't spend her time watching Naruto, she would at least be able to face him when he returned.

Of course things hadn't quite worked out like that. Naruto had returned and then left again almost immediately. And eventually Hinata had followed him, with the others, in their attempt to save his life. For a few amazing seconds, deep within the earth of the Akatsuki lair, Naruto had looked right at Hinata in a way that made her feel like all her dreams had come true.

And then he'd started screaming, sending Hinata crashing back down to reality.

But she had to seize this opportunity! She hadn't been building her confidence for three years just to see Naruto snapped up by the first floozy to cross his path! Not unless she was the floozy!

The plan was simple. Naruto didn't have any missions scheduled for the next few days, so he would be training. She would "accidentally" bump into him on the way to training, and then join in. She would have an opportunity to show him just how much she'd improved, and then when they rested she would get a chance to talk to him. It couldn't fail!

Hinata fired herself up; her eyes burning in the way Lee had shown her. She and Lee had often sparred in the previous years, as it was useful for Lee to train against a Gentle Fist user if he wanted to defeat Neji, and of course to constantly fight Neji was an impossibility – he was too proud by far for that.

Hinata took with her a basket of all of Naruto's favourite foods, as well as the equipment she needed to make some on-the-spot ramen. Nothing could possibly go wrong!

That morning, Hinata set out with her training gear and the food, and headed for where she knew was Naruto's favourite training spot. It was where she'd met him before he'd gone and fought Neji for her, where he'd said she was someone he could like. She wasn't going to forget that anytime soon, that was for sure.

Sure enough, there was Naruto at it again. He was practising manoeuvres with an army of Kage Bunshins. It was astonishing to watch.

At any one time, twenty Narutos would be running through different Taijutsu sets. Every single one would be doing something different – never did Hinata see two Bunshins ever doing the same thing at a time. Another twenty spun Rasengans on their palms and practised pushing forward with them. Occasionally one would lose control of the Rasengan and puff out of existence, but immediately another one would appear and start the exercise over, this time with the opposite hand.

About fifty or so were working on group tactics. They'd attack a target en masse, form themselves into strange structures, use each other to bounce around the training ground and do all sorts of peculiar looking things. Some were clearly failures from the loud moaning reactions of the Naruto clones, but many seemed to be successes. Or so Hinata thought, she really couldn't tell for sure.

The real Naruto though, sat in the middle of the clearing. His legs were crossed, and he wasn't wearing a shirt (a fact that Hinata found rather difficult to ignore… not that she actually wanted to). Sweat poured down his face and his body, and he looked like he was struggling with something so much that it physically hurt.

For a moment Hinata considered leaving, but then the voice she loved so much spoke up.

"Hey Hinata! Nice to see you!" He sounded happy. Genuinely happy that she was there!

"Oh, uhh, hi Naruto-kun. Are you… are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. This is pretty tricky is all. But I can handle it, no sweat!"

"But, umm," Hinata paused. "What exactly are you doing Naruto-kun?"

"Heh, this? I'm training my mind, working on strategy and building chakra reserves all at the same time! It's pretty hard to spread your consciousness between so many clones, so most of the time you just give basic orders… but I'm trying to control as many directly as possible. It's pretty difficult I guess, but Ero-Sennin is always saying my head is my weak point, so I've just gotta keep on going, yeah!

"So… you're here to train too?" Naruto asked her, innocently. "Then we can train together! You can show me how strong you've gotten! Here, hold on a sec--"

Naruto concentrated a little harder and grunted. Twenty more Kage Bunshins popped into the air around Hinata. Then ten of them disappeared again. "Changed my mind! These ones'll last a little longer," Naruto said, still not actually turning to face her, though the new Bunshins smiled openly as a group.

At first Hinata felt a little bad. She didn't really like the idea of attacking the boy she'd loved for so long, but they were only clones after all. The real object of her affection was sitting unharmed a safe distance away.

She began slowly. Each of the Naruto Bunshins had a real flesh and blood body of its own, so they were perfect for practising the more damaging Gentle Fist attacks. As she struck, instead of disappearing each clone instead was actually damaged just as a real person would have been. Well, she noticed, until they "died" – then they would in fact puff away in smoke. But as one disappeared, Naruto would grunt a little and another would simply appear ready to fight.

Naruto was impressed by Hinata. Really impressed. It wasn't the first time he'd fought a Hyuuga, but Hinata was a hell of a lot better than Neji had been three years before in every way and every technique.

After one particularly impressive Kaiten which sent all ten of the Naruto clones flying Hinata panted and wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was now or never, she thought.

"Umm, Naruto-kun? It's been a while… would you like some food? I brought plenty with me."

The faces of the various Naruto clones lit up, and as one they stopped what they were doing and disappeared. "Would I? That would be great! Damn, I'm so hungry… uhh, if you really have some to spare."

Naruto staggered to his feet, and Hinata dashed over to help him. He laughed it off, saying he was just giddy from sitting down so long.

Hinata got out her basket and opened it. Naruto looked on in amazement as she began to expertly prepare some ramen.

"Hehe, it sure was nice of you to bring all this food Hinata. How'd you know ramen was my favourite?"

"Oh, oh, I guess I was just lucky." As if anyone in the village could fail to know, let alone a girl who'd been in love with Naruto half her life. Naruto sure as hell was loud, err, passionate enough about it.

"You know, ramen is not just incredibly delicious, it's also perfect for training food because…" Naruto launched into a lecture on the benefits of a ramen diet. "…and that's why it's the perfect food!"

Hinata just smiled at him with perfect happiness.

They talked.

It was only Hinata's second ever conversation with Naruto – a real one, anyway. She didn't count the times they'd just exchanged pleasantries (or in her case, stutters and blushes) or the countless conversations she'd imagined in her head.

They talked about their lives and their dreams over the hot food. Naruto told her about the things he'd seen and done in those three years apart. For all of the pain and tragedy of it, the fox boy had lead a truly amazing life. In some ways Hinata loved him even more.

Eventually the Hyuuga girl asked Naruto why he was training so hard. Immediately his eyes went dark and he gazed into an imaginary distance. Hinata regretted asking, thinking that she'd blown everything once again, but after a long pause Naruto answered her.

"Sasuke. We've only got three months left to save him. Sakura-chan and I'll be leaving soon, and I need to be as strong as possible if I want to bring him back this time. I'm not letting that bastard take his body. Not even if I have to die."

He burned with an inner determination that couldn't be expressed in words alone. Hinata could feel the power – not of his body, but of his mentality. But it faded – not completely gone, but subdued. The fire was still there, but he was hiding it.

They returned to the peaceful talk of before, though Naruto seemed a little down, a little less spirited than before. Hinata did her best to comfort him.

Of course it wasn't long before Naruto sprung to his feet, totally energized.

"Alright Hinata! Time for endurance training! Keep up if you can!"

He set off in what was – for him – a gentle jog. Hinata found herself struggling to keep up, continually falling behind. After a few minutes her body was exhausted, and even Naruto had noticed. He dropped back and got her to stop, then thought for a moment.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Hinata. I figured you'd know what I meant. Okay, turn on your eye-thingy."

Hinata activated her Byakugan blood limit, and suddenly she could see Naruto's inner coils system.

"Okay, umm, you can see the flow of my chakra, right? Watch how I manipulate it when I'm running."

He jogged around a little – this time jogging by anyone's standards, not just his or Lee's. Hinata took notice of how masterfully he kept a constant flow of chakra throughout each part of his body, and how the rhythm of his body matched perfectly to the rhythm of his chakra movement.

After a few minutes he stopped, and asked if she'd gotten it. She nodded, blushing a little, and gave it a go. She was a little rough, but all the same in just a few steps she had the basics down. Keeping chakra flowing constantly helped the body perform at its peak level without hurting itself, and could substitute for a lack of stamina. The idea of the exercise was to get used to manipulating a set amount of chakra over a long period of time.

After Hinata had got the basic hang of things, and she'd had a chance to rest for a minute, they set off together again. Naruto kept the pace a little slower this time, and babbled a little while they ran. Hinata loved hearing him talk, even if it wasn't about anything in particular. And because she wanted to keep on hearing him talk, and because she wanted him to think she was strong, she just kept on running with him. She kept on running, even long after she'd reached the end of her stamina. She kept on running on nothing but pure will, but eventually even will won't matter.

It was a good thing Naruto had been keeping pace with her, in one respect, since the second Hinata began to fall he was there to catch her.

The new Jounin cursed his stupidity. Of course she wouldn't be able to keep up with him this long! She didn't have his superhuman stamina! She didn't have his chakra reserves! He was an idiot! Beyond an idiot!

Within moments he was in the hospital, calling for help. The nurses said they'd never seen anyone move so quickly as he had.

As Hinata lay in the bed, Naruto kept watch over her. He never let his eyes off her for a moment. She looked so fragile lying there unconscious.

She was pretty cute; he realised, and filed away that information somewhere in the misty murk of his brain. Actually she was really very cute, he thought, adding to that new file inside his head. But he had no right to be thinking that, he added! It was his fault she was in the hospital! He would never bother Hinata again, Naruto resolved. But… he didn't leave. He was too worried to do that.

She moaned out from unconsciousness as if she were in pain. Instantly Naruto touched his hand to her face, stroking her gently until she relaxed and the fox boy could breathe again.

With the contact Hinata seemed to improve, and she murmured something too softly for Naruto to hear, her face flushing. Naruto gasped at the reddening and called frantically for a nurse, who just laughed and said it was sweet of him to be so concerned but she was fine.

When Hinata came to, the first thing she saw was Naruto's handsome face looking at her in concern. So, of course, she came to the conclusion that she was dreaming. And considering it was a dream, she didn't have to be so shy.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her not-so-secret love and pulled him down onto the bed and into an embrace.

Naruto felt awfully conflicted. On the one hand, it was really very, very nice, and was human contact on a level he'd never actually experienced before. On the other hand, Hinata was injured, and it was entirely his fault. He had to break it off for her sake, because he was a danger to her health.

But it was really, really nice. And kinda comforting, he realised. At least she wasn't in any danger – Naruto didn't feel like he could handle her being in any more of that.

Still, he struggled gently and pushed away from her, at which point Hinata realised with a loud gasp and a burning flush that she was not, in fact, dreaming and that she had, in fact, just pulled the boy she had loved for as long as could remember into her bed.

She found the strength to smile weakly at him and started to apologise. Naruto would have none of that.

"It's not your fault Hinata-chan, it's entirely mine. I should have known you couldn't run as long as I could. I'm so sorry. I know you won't ever be able to forgive me, but that's okay. I don't deserve it anyway."

Hinata could have laughed. But she didn't.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm just happy that you looked after me."

"Hey, no problem! Just returning the favour after all!" Hinata felt the world come crashing down after Naruto said that.

"I heard how you stayed with me when I was in the hospital last time, and that meant a lot to me." But then like magic, everything was better again.

"So really, it's okay. Just… I'm sorry, is all. I'll leave now, if you want. I'd understand."

"No! Umm, no, umm, that's okay. I, uhh, I like having you here." Hinata kept right on blushing, as if she wanted to break the record. "And I liked training with you. I really feel stronger now."

"Really?"

"Yes." Hinata nodded.

"Oh, then, uhh, Hinata, would you like to train with me again tomorrow? I'll slow things down a bit. I don't want you getting hurt again. And you know, maybe we can talk some more? I really enjoyed that. Well! And the training, but the talking was nice too."

He laughed feebly. It almost sounded to Hinata like he was asking her out, and so she opened her mouth to make the only response she could ever have made.

**Author's Note: Ack, here's my first real attempt at actual NaruHina, and yeah, I know, it sucked. But people asked for it, and I guess all I can say is be careful what you wish for, huh?**

**I passed 175 reviews with the last chapter (woo!) so pretty soon I'll have beaten 200!**

**I'm not sure what the next chapter will be about, but I'll work something out. Keep giving me suggestions and maybe I'll be more inspired.**

**Thanks everyone, and let my final words echo – review!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Sixteen: Memories**

Naruto tossed and turned in his sleep. He was sweating, and his eyes flickered madly under their lids.

He woke with a start, panting.

"The nightmares again?" His wife asked, sitting up. He nodded in exhaustion, and Hinata embraced him comfortingly, cradling his head on her breast.

"You're amazing," she whispered to him. "Akatsuki," she shuddered slightly. It was a bad memory. "He went mad from it. You're so much stronger than he was. I love you so much." She stroked his hair as she spoke, and his breathing calmed.

"Maybe… But I don't remember too much of it."

He looked up at his wife's face. She was as beautiful then as she had been the day they were married.

"I almost wish I could remember it better… If the dreams made more sense maybe they wouldn't be so…"

"Shhhh. It's okay."

"It's just so… disjointed. Images run through me too fast to make any sense… so fast it hurts. I wonder if this is what Gaara feels when he sleeps. I wish I could make sense of it all."

"Well, whatever you want to do, I'll always be here to help you. You know that, Naruto."

"Well…

"The earliest thing I remember, I think, is a smell. Overwhelming. It's everywhere. The scent is sharp. Sharp and wet and metallic. I think it's blood, but I don't know what could make so much of it. And then I open my eyes, and the light is so bright it burns right through me, until I burst into flames… And it hurts so much, but the more it hurts the better I feel, and the angrier and angrier I become until… that's where it ends."

"And that's the earliest one?"

"Yeah. Well, I don't really know. I just have a… feeling… that it is. And it doesn't really fit with any of the others. I think…"

"What?" Hinata stopped stroking his hair for a second, and looked empathically into her husband's eyes.

"I think it's the birth of the Kyuubi."

"Oh god, Naruto. What sort of thing could be born like that?"

His reply was sarcastic and bitter. A tone he always regretted taking with her of all people.

"A demon. What else?"

Hinata frowned at him, but it was a frown that carried a deeper meaning. It wasn't disapproval or annoyance or anger. It was Uzumaki Hinata telling her husband the same thing she always did – that he wasn't a demon, he was a wonderful man and a hero to his people and to his family.

He knew that. But he'd spent so many years bitter and confused that even after so much time it was hard to forget.

"I'm not sure what comes next exactly, but there is something… running. Running through a forest somewhere. I'm chasing something. Some people. Only they don't look much like people – they're dirty, they're only wearing rags and none of them talk. I'm bigger than them, but not by much, and I'm a lot faster. I catch up with them and tear their heads off. For a moment it calms me down, but then the anger comes back and I shred them to pieces with my teeth. And as I eat them it tastes so, so good and it's so satisfying…"

Naruto began to shake uncontrollably, and had to raise a hand to his mouth as he forced himself to keep the vomit down.

"And then something else happens, I'm not sure what, and I start running again… Next thing I remember I'm standing over a cliff and snarling. Down below me are some… huts would be generous. But I don't destroy them. Instead the people come out, scared and bow down to me. It feels good.

"There are snippets from this… Years go past and the tiny village grows. They build statues and temples to me, and bring food when I need it. And I protect them when they're threatened."

"Really? That… that monster protected people?"

Naruto paused, his eyes fading thousands of years away. "Yes," was all he said.

"I protected them, and treated them well. They become prosperous under my gaze, and I grow as well. They create a language – they create it! Writing that doesn't look like anything we have now! They start experimenting with science and with chakra, inspired by the vast energies I wield.

"And then – I remember this so well. Another creature like me appears. For a time we are friends. Comrades. We fight together, and live together in peace. But then my friend leaves. Then it comes back – years later, I think – and its changed. Now it has two tails, where I only have one. And my friend tries to kill me.

"It's so much more powerful, and it defeats me so easily. My village is destroyed and not a single one of my people lives. And I feel that anger again. And with my anger the other fox demon is no match. I tear its throat out, and eat it whole. And when I eat its tails, I feel its great power flow into me and combine with my own… Now I have three tails.

"I get its knowledge as well. There are others like me, waiting to kill me and steal my power. So I decide to kill them first, so they can never harm anyone I protect ever again. But…

"But when they're dead… centuries later… I've forgotten about protecting anyone. The anger has consumed me. I'm nothing but death and destruction now. I become known to the humans as the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, and I am their greatest fear. I've forgotten completely about protecting them."

Hinata had tears in her pale eyes. "That's so terrible, Naruto. God…"

"I meet others again." Naruto was miles and centuries away, his voice just droning on without thought or feeling. "Not demon foxes. Demon birds, demon tanukis, demon dragons. The first one I meet tries to greet me, but I don't understand, so I kill it. Eating its flesh doesn't give me any power though, so when I meet one next time, I let it talk. I still don't understand, but it teaches me.

"It was a great black dragon, with wings that could eclipse the moon, and eyes that glowed demon-red as mine. It is known as the Dragon of the Red Moon."

Hinata gasped, then shuddered again. "Akatsuki!"

"It teaches me the language of the demons, and I join their society. We live in another world, far from here. Only a demon can go there. It is my home, a perfect world of carnage and eternal destruction. Once a century I leave, though, and return to the world where I lived for so long. Because the insects must never forget about my power. They must never forget the fear. And because I hate them all, so much."

"That's… Naruto, oh Naruto. Come here."

Hinata lifted his head up from her chest and held all of him close to her, and in her arms Naruto cried a pair of hot, wet tears onto her pale skin.

"It doesn't matter if you can remember any of that. It doesn't change who you are."

"I know. But listen to it. It sounds so much like my life. I am born in blood. I dedicate my life to protecting my village. My best friend tries to kill me for power. I meet the demon of the Red Moon and he teaches me the language of the demons.

"I know that language! Akatsuki taught it to me! Sasuke tried to kill me for power! How long before fighting to protect Konoha turns into just fighting? Into killing for the hell of it? I know the way to the demon world – maybe I should just go there and never come back."

Hinata pulled back and looked her husband deep in his mournful blue eyes.

"That would never, ever happen. You went twelve whole years thinking that no one in the world loved you. If you can go through that and still be such a wonderful, loving, caring man then you will never change. Everything you do is a testament to the strength of your character."

"I hope you're right."

"That's not all you're going to do. Naruto. Naruto, look at me. Promise me that you'll never become like that monster. Swear it. Do you promise?"

Naruto nodded.

"And you never go back on your word, do you?"

Naruto shook his head, smiling again at last.

"You're too good for me," he said, laughing.

**Author's Note: Really short chapter today, but on the other hand it took less time and effort to write, which meant I was able to update two days in a row without exhausting myself. **

**Expect a longer chapter… next time. Whenever that actually is. If we're lucky, tomorrow. If not, the day after.**

**I got a lot of useful suggestions, thanks everyone. This didn't turn out to be any of them, but the next chapter probably will be. Or maybe it'll be the follow up to the Burning Passion storyline.**

**Ooh! I don't know if anyone is interested, but I was thinking it'd be cool to get some fan art of the OCs like Yume and Iruka. I know I haven't given particularly detailed descriptions of them yet, but if anyone does turn out to be artistically inclined and want to give it a go I can condense the different descriptions from throughout the fic, and fill in any needed details. I'd do it myself but… total lack of artistic ability would be a generous description of me.**

**Stories coming up soon include: follow up to Burning Passion, the Save Sasuke story, the revenge for Kakashi story and a few surprises.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to.

**Chapter Seventeen: Revenge is Sweet**

"This is it. I am officially in hell."

"Hmm?" Nanaka Jo looked back at his teammates questioningly. "Why'd you say that, Sakumo?"

Yuuhi Sakumo narrowed his red eyes and glared at the masked boy walking in front of him. "It wasn't me. It was her." He instilled enough hatred in the word "her" that anyone listening might have thought that she'd killed his entire family and driven him to a life of revenge.

"Oh." Jo replied. "Well, it sounded like the sort of thing you'd say Sakumo, don't you agree Yume?" He turned his head back to look at the other member of their Genin team now. And then he remembered why exactly he'd been walking in front of the other two in the first place. Yume so scary. So, so scary.

There had been a wild look in her pale eyes the entire day, and her face was fixed in a mad, soulless grin. Her chakra, normally so well controlled, seemed to spiral around her in an intimidating pattern of intensity. So, so scary.

Forcing himself to look her dead on, Jo asked the question again. "Why'd you say that, Yume?"

"It's been three weeks now," she said, somehow not changing her expression at all. "Three. Whole. Weeks."

"Uhh, yeah, we've been Genins for three weeks." Jo said, confused. "Shouldn't you be happy about that?"

"Happy? Happy?!" Her aura burst out of her and filled the entire space. Jo shivered as if he were freezing to death in the wilderness. Surrounded by lions. Hungry lions.

"How can I be happy when my brother," Jo and Sakumo both had a mental image of Yume ripping her brother to shreds and laughing maniacally, despite the fact that she'd barely moved a muscle. "When my brother got to go on a C-Class mission on his first freaking day? A mission where he got to fight a missing-nin! And what have I been doing for three weeks?! Gardening! Babysitting! Rescuing cats stuck in trees!"

"Idiot," Sakumo said. Jo was filled with an immense admiration for his team-mate's ability to stay calm in the face of absolute terror. "We're rookies. We're not supposed to be being killed by missing-nins. Who cares what your equally idiotic brother is doing?"

Jo wasn't sure if Sakumo actually regretted his words or not. He knew he would have been, if he'd suddenly been surrounded by a score of terrifying girls hell-bent on making him feel pain.

It had been three weeks ago that Uzumaki Iruka had left for his first mission – which was also his first C-Class mission, and then even turned into his first A-Class mission. It wasn't particularly surprising that two days later when he'd walked back into the Uzumaki home triumphant, his older sister Yume had been filled with envy.

Well, the first feeling she'd had was actually shock, while her mother and father were simply terrified. Iruka had walked in slowly, and the dangerous mission had taken a terrible toll on the boy. It looked as if he's been gravely injured – so badly that he had… gone mad.

He stood in the doorway proudly, clad from head to toe in a suit of green spandex; his hair shining in the bowl cut style of his sensei, Rock Lee.

His mother nearly fainted dead away, and his father found it difficult to talk for a few minutes.

But Iruka couldn't hold it in for long, and burst out into gales of laughter. With a wave of his hand he dispelled the Henge and was back to his normal self. His normal, energetic, talkative self. Too talkative, in Yume's opinion. Oh, he never exactly rubbed it in her face, but she could read between the lines. Oh yes. And she would have her revenge. Oh yes.

Naruto and Hinata had been very worried when Iruka had told them about the encounter with Boruno of the Dead. Well, Naruto had technically been proud, but Hinata had done more than enough worrying for the both of them. This was, of course, when Yume started feeling the jealousy. How dare her little brother (she only thought of him as little when she was jealous) get to do such exciting things while she was stuck with the most menial tasks in the whole village? It was a conspiracy. Her father and Konohamaru were conspiring against her. Nothing else made sense. They liked Iruka better, so they wanted to keep her down so she couldn't outshine him.

Oh, but she wouldn't stand for that. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

She did the only thing she could – she waited. Soon enough she would have her own C-Class mission, and then she would be able to prove her superiority once and for all. Oh yes. But meanwhile, she would plot. Plot against her little brother and all he stood for. Oh yes indeed.

After four long, long, oh so long weeks, Yume finally got her chance. She had refused to beg for the mission – she was far too proud for that. But eventually Jo and Sakumo had gotten too scared of her ever-rising anger not to do the begging for her.

The mission was to escort a businessman to his home in the Wave Country. It would take several weeks. Hearing that Yume knew for certain that the mission would be exciting – after all it was just like her father's first C-Class mission. As an Uzumaki it couldn't fail to complicate!

Another three weeks later, Yume and her team walked back through the gates of Konoha. There wasn't even a scratch on them.

Iruka looked happy to see her, but Yume knew that was a cunning mask. Underneath the hug and the smiles was someone laughing at her! Mocking her! Oh, how he would pay. Pay dearly. Oh yes.

She began it – the great Prank War!

She started by attacking Iruka's weak points. He had a crush on Kazeko, she knew that, so it was the ideal place to start. For ruining her life she would ruin his relationship.

Oh yes.

The plan was simple – she Henged into her brother, and ambushed Kazeko while the girl was walking around the village. 'Iruka' then very forcefully demanded that Kazeko go out with 'him'. Yume thought this was perfect – Kazeko would hate Iruka and in turn he would be crushed. Nothing could go wrong. Nothing at all.

Kazeko looked put out and a little mad. Yume had to restrain herself from laughing. Everything was going according to plan.

"Okay, sure," the brunette said, giggling a little. "Why don't we catch a movie tonight Iruka-kun?"

Yume almost gave the game up there, but she quickly adapted. "Sure, sounds great," she said in Iruka's voice. This way worked as well, Yume thought. Now when Iruka didn't turn up Kazeko would be pissed and everything would go according to plan. Oh yes.

Cackling to herself, Yume retired for the evening. Since Iruka was out training with Lee-sensei, there was no way for him to hear her cackles or know of the date. It was perfect.

The next morning Yume almost skipped to the bridge where she was supposed to meet her team. Jo and Sakumo were pleased that at last her mood had improved, that Sakumo refused to let it show. She didn't even seem angry when they were assigned to work at the Konoha Home for the Elderly for the day. All because she knew that she had gotten her revenge on her little brother.

In fact when her mission for the day was over, Yume went looking for Iruka. She wanted to see for herself how crushed he was. From a distance she could sense his chakra signal – the Uzumaki children never had any difficulties sensing each other, thanks to the unique traits they all shared.

Activating her Byakugan, Yume's vision zoomed through the buildings and the crowds to where her brother was walking. Arm in arm with Kazeko. Oh, he was a clever one. Clever indeed.

The war continued. Yume managed to "accidentally" dye her brother's clothes lime green. He shrugged it off, and started using a Henge to make himself look normal. It was a strain, he said, but it would be good training for him.

Of course Yume wasn't fooled by his blissful and ignorant façade. She knew full well that he knew that she had declared war. And she knew that he knew that she knew. Which is why she knew that he was pretending so that she would be fooled into thinking he really didn't know that she knew that he knew. But Uzumaki Yume wouldn't be fooled so easily!

More time passed without Iruka seeming to make a move against his sister, though she was ever wary. She managed to replace his kunai with trick ones she'd purchased at a joke shop. She set genjutsus on his alarm clock and watch. She disguised herself as Lee and made him run laps around the village. Still no response. He was acting happy – too happy. As if he was enjoying every moment of life. It was just suspicious.

But soon she would force him to react. And it would be so, so sweet to see. Oh yes.

She had decided to allow Iruka and Kazeko to go out for a little while. Because that way it would be all the more cruel when she did end their budding relationship. Iruka would rue the day he had crossed Uzumaki Yume, oh yes.

Weeks passed and Yume escalated the war. Iruka was still annoyingly content. It was as if there was something making him so happy that he didn't even realise what was happening. But Yume knew that was impossible. Impossible!

Three months after they'd become Genins, Yume was finally confronted. But not by Iruka. By Kazeko.

"Why are you doing it, Yume?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kazeko."

"Oh come off it. I know what you've been up to Yume - it's obvious. But why would you want to hurt your Iruka-kun this much?"

"Me? Hurt him? He's the one who started it!!"

Kazeko paused for a moment, and then mouthed the word "What?" shaking her head lightly as she did.

"He mocked me after I went on a C-Class mission but didn't get to fight anyone!"

Kazeko looked at Yume as if her brain had been forced to stop working, then mouthed "What?" again. The conversation just didn't make any sense to the Nara girl.

"Iruka-kun didn't do anything of the sort. You're the only one obsessed with this… this whatever it is!"

"Oh."

And so the Prank War ended with an astounding record of zero casualties.

**Author's Note: Okay, this chapter started out well but… I don't know, it kinda fell apart. But I didn't want to make anyone wait any longer for a chapter… I know I didn't have to, but I felt bad.**

**Next chapter will be… I'm not sure yet. Hopefully the answer will be "better than this one", blech.**

**Probably the next time we see Yume and Iruka will be the beginning of their first Chuunin Exam, which is part of why I moved the time frame forward here.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Eighteen: Judgement**

The Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf stood over the stone that bore the names of Konoha's heroes. The stone that bore the name of Hatake Kakashi, killed by the traitor Orochimaru.

"I'm going to kill him."

Behind the Hokage were his former teammates and fellow Sannin – the Chief of the Konoha Ninja Police and the Chairwoman of the Konoha Hospital.

"You need to stay here," spoke Uchiha Sasuke. "I'll kill him."

"No," responded Uzumaki Naruto. "He trained you. He knows your strengths and weaknesses too well. I have to do it."

"I'll do it," said Haruno Sakura. "Slug kills Snake, right? I'm the best suited for the job."

"You're right Sakura-chan, but there are too many wounded here. You need to stay and heal them. Of the three of us, you more than either of the two of us have to stay.

"The only one who can go is me – what am I supposed to do now? Give stirring speeches? No. Actions speak louder than words, and I need to kill that bastard."

"At least let me go with you," Sasuke said.

There was a rising pressure in the air between the two rivals. A battle of wills. But despite the intensity implicit in the Uchiha's tone and the authority he tried to employ, the Hokage stood unmoved.

"I'm going alone. The two of you will stay here. With our lives we serve and protect the Leaf. If I don't come back…"

Naruto looked down at his hands, held almost quivering in front of him. Shaking now they moved up to his neck, and he lifted a small necklace over his head and cradled it to his chest.

Without looking at her, Naruto held the necklace clenched in a fist in the direction of his friend. Sakura put her own hand beneath his, and Naruto dropped it down into her palm.

"This is…"

"The necklace of the First Hokage.

"If I don't come back, you're the Hokage Sakura. Do the title and the Leaf proud."

"Naruto! Stop talking like you're going to die! You're going to go and kill that bastard then you're going to come right back here and marry Hinata and be the best damn Hokage there's ever been for the rest of your life, do you hear me?"

"Yes sir," there was a faint smile on the fox man's face, though he still couldn't look either of his friends in the eye.

"Are you sure there isn't something we can do for you Naruto?" Sasuke asked, consigned to his role.

"No, there's… no. Actually, there is one thing Sasuke. One last thing."

Some hours later Uzumaki Naruto opened the door of his apartment. He had a smile on his face and in his heart, because if this was going to be the last time he ever saw his fiancée he wasn't going to have it any other way.

As they lay in bed together with their bodies entwined, Naruto refused to let his mind wander, even then in the moments of quiet tenderness. He gave his body, heart and soul to Hinata that night. They both felt as if that day together and the night that followed had been their true wedding, even though the official date was two weeks away.

The Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf left his village in the morning wearing the battle cloak worn by his father before him.

With a bite and a smear he summoned the fastest of the great toad summons to bear him the many miles of the journey to the country of the Sound.

Entry to the country itself was easy enough. The border was not guarded, and it was by no means a well-populated land. Even its ninja village was small – formed mostly of urchins and runaways gathered by Orochimaru from across the continent. Conflicts with the Leaf had for years been eroding at what little power the Hidden Sound had ever possessed, and in truth there were just two shinobi of note remaining – Orochimaru and Kabuto.

The former was a shinobi of world renown – one of the Leaf's Legendary Three (or at least the first generation of them), but the latter was… a mystery. Yakushi Kabuto. Found by the Leaf ninjas as the only survivor of a battle in which both sides were wiped out. Mysteriously. Kabuto had been adopted by a Leaf medical ninja, and had mysteriously more than mastered all of his new father's techniques by the time he was 18. And the details on exactly how he had become Orochimaru's second in command were a complete mystery as well.

One thing that was not a mystery, however, was his power and prowess. He was easily among the top three medic-nins in the world, ranking with both Tsunade and Sakura. In strength he had been a match for Kakashi, who himself was one of the strongest ninjas in the world.

However as strong as Kakashi or Kabuto were, they did not come close to those in the Kage class. The Five Kages – Tsuchikage, Mizukage, Kazekage, Raikage and Hokage – were typically the five strongest ninjas in the world, though there were always those had the power but not the position, such as Sakura, Sasuke or Jiraiya. And finally there were former Kages such as Tsunade who had handed their title down to a successor. That successor had been Uzumaki Naruto. Hence he was confident he could defeat Kabuto if he had to.

The two of them had fought once before, when Naruto was twelve and on his first training expedition with the toad-sennin Jiraiya. The fight could charitably been called a draw, since it ended with both of them being out of commission, but in reality Naruto had lost – he might have caused some damage to Kabuto, but it was only because Tsunade had been there to bring the fox boy back from the brink of death that Naruto had lived to see another day.

But that had been eight years ago. A long eight years. Naruto was the Rokudaime Hokage now, and it was a position he had more than earned.

As Naruto neared the Sound village he was spotted by various patrols of course – he was making no attempt to disguise his high-speed approach. Wisely none of them chose to confront what they knew was a Kage, and instead warned their home.

That was fine. Naruto wanted them to know he was coming.

At the gates, he jumped down to the ground and dismissed the summoned frog. It saluted him and disappeared, leaving the young Hokage alone against the forces of an entire ninja village.

He boldly stepped forward and rapped twice, loudly, on the wooden gate.

There was no response.

Naruto knocked again.

After a minute or so, a sole Sound-nin – a low level one, it appeared – poked his head through a hole in the wood and, stuttering, asked Naruto's business.

Naruto didn't speak at first, but reached inside his cloak and withdrew something small. It was a gilded musical note hanging from a purple ribbon.

"This marks me as a hero of this village. Now are you going to stand there and not let a hero in?"

The Sound-nin swallowed but nodded, opening the gate from the inside. He was being realistic, it wasn't as if he didn't understand utterly how dead he would be if he didn't let a Hokage pass.

As Naruto walked through the Sound village, every single person there watched him with careful and fearful eyes. They weren't stupid. They knew exactly what he was there to do. They just hoped it wouldn't have to involve their deaths.

Most people in the Sound village were scared of Orochimaru, to one degree or another. Many of them loved and worshiped him, but it was a worship built as much on fear as it was love. A devotion to the terror of his personage rather than any great charisma.

The feared Naruto as well, and rightfully so. Though it was famous throughout the world that Uzumaki Naruto was above all else a kind man and never one to grow angry, it was wondered by some exactly why there were no records of him truly becoming angry. No records and no witnesses.

Naruto walked calmly towards Orochimaru's complex. No resistance was offered. And when he was but a dozen feet away, he closed his demon-red eyes for a moment and let loose a pulse of chakra forceful enough to all-but solidify the air in the open street, knocking back almost all of the men and women watching despite their safe distance.

Naruto wasn't going to mince words here. He wanted Orochimaru, and he wanted it to be clear that he was completely serious. Releasing more chakra in a single instant than the entire village had combined, save Orochimaru himself, seemed an excellent way of saying hello. Hello, and prepare to die.

Orochimaru emerged.

He was shrouded in black robes, and at his side stood Kabuto.

"Kukukuku… So they have sent the pet demon to finish me off, eh?"

Naruto said nothing.

"And in the clothes of a dead man no less. Maybe you think wearing that funeral cloak will make you stronger Naruto-kun?"

Naruto said nothing.

"Kill the monster. I'm a busy man."

At Orochuimaru's command, dozens of ninjas struck. Their fear of the Snake Sannin won over the fear of the legendary Orange Shadow, for the moment at least.

No one there saw it. A huge cloud of ninja smoke filled the entire village the moment the Sound-nins moved towards Naruto, and when the smoke cleared the Hokage had not moved an inch.

And every single attacking ninja lay dead on the ground.

Their throats had been slit, every last one of them.

And Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, stood unmoved; his eyes closed; his stance relaxed.

He spoke for the first time. His eyes were held loosely closed.

"Orochimaru, for the crimes of treason, mass murder and conspiracy against the Hidden Leaf I sentence you to judgement at my hands."

Orochimaru's yellow eyes met the calm, piercing blue of Naruto's, and the Sannin wavered.

"Don't—don't forget Naruto-kun… I've never lost a fight against you."

A gamble.

"True. You defeated me when I was twelve years old, Orochimaru."

A loss.

"Remember, the Snake always beats the Frog."

Another gamble.

"I can smell blood. I'd never fail to recognise your scent, even if it's a few days old. Kakashi wounded you."

Another loss.

"Ah yes, Kakashi-kun. Your precious sensei. I did so enjoy killing him."

A most dangerous gamble.

For the briefest moment Naruto's pupils lengthened into vertical slits.

The gamble paid off. A moment of weakness.

Orochimaru leapt on it.

"It's true that he wounded me, but I killed him. And you could probably kill me quite easily, Naruto-kun, with the powers of your true self. Does it feel good to rend flesh and shred bone again, Kyuubi-kun? But giving in to your animal urges wouldn't be respectful of your fallen sensei, now would it? You can't avenge him that way, oh no no no."

This time it was Naruto's turn to waver, the steely look in his blue eyes softening. But quickly enough his will came through.

"You're right Orochimaru. It wouldn't be true vengeance. But then I'm not here to take revenge. I'm here to kill you – nothing else.

"But…" Naruto laughed a little. "Why not do both?"

He turned his gaze slightly to the right – still keeping close watch on the Snake Sannin, but looking also at the man who stood next to him.

"Kabuto. I've got a deal for you. You stay out of this fight, and you get the Sound. I have no intention of letting this country fall to anarchy, and no intention of conquering it. I'm here to kill Orochimaru. Nothing else. You stay out of the fight and I won't kill you."

Kabuto smiled, and leapt backwards to crouch on the roof of Orochimaru's ruling complex. "Sounds like a good bargain, Naruto-kun."

Orochimaru spat something black and vile at the ground, which smouldered. "Traitor."

"But Kabuto, if you or the Sound cross the Leaf again, that stay of execution is lifted."

"Understood, Hokage-sama."

"Now…" Naruto stared back at Orochimaru, but something was different. This wasn't simply the cold hard gaze of before. There was a weight to Naruto's eyes. An authority. A power.

"You wanted a handicap, I believe? You may recognize this then…"

Naruto held out his right hand palm facing his opponent, and separated the fingers. He cupped his open hand into a bowl shape, and with a yellow glow a tiny symbol shone at the end of each finger. Naruto took his hand and…

…drove it into his own belly. A flameless yellow fire consumed Naruto, and for a second he even had to close his eyes from the pain. Which was exactly the opening Orochimaru had been hoping for. He recognised the Five Element Seal which he himself had once used on Naruto, and that time it had knocked him unconscious for hours. But that was then, and now the boy was much stronger, even Orochimaru could admit that.

With a speed and strength that belied his supposedly weakened state, Orochimaru dove through the air and wrapped his freakishly long tongue around the young man. In one movement a kunai flew through the air and sliced through Naruto's cheek as the Hokage barely managed to dodge.

With a flex of the huge tongue muscle Naruto was flung into the air, but he managed to spin the flight into a controlled form, only to be engulfed by a black shroud of cloth. Orochimaru had thrown his robes at the fox man, but instead of being mere fabric with a one-handed seal the robes came alive and surrounded Naruto.

Trapped within the black folds of living cloth, Naruto struggled for a moment, testing its strength. Sure enough, Orochimaru had made it well – physical strength was useless against it, and with the Kyuubi sealed away from reach he couldn't use his claws or fangs. It blinded his senses and completely cut him off from the world, trapped in its darkness. But that still left plenty of options.

From both of Naruto's hands came whirls of spinning chakra blades, slicing through the cloth like it was nothing. Naruto's father had created the Rasengan, and his sensei had taught it to him, but only Naruto had recognized the greater value of its lessons – without the final control that gave the Rasengan its ultimate destructive power, it could still be useful given the right situation.

Freed from the prison of living fabric, Naruto found himself trapped within a prison of another variety once more – while he'd been blinded Orochimaru had taken the opportunity to summon a deadly giant snake, which had swallowed the Hokage and the cloth he had been bundled inside whole.

Instantly Naruto acted. He had been swallowed by snakes before, but now he had a more sophisticated means of dealing with the problem.

He bit his own thumb, drawing blood, which Naruto used to complete his own summoning contract. Bursting forth in more clouds of smoke came two frog warriors who slashed their and Naruto's way out of the snake's mouth. A third, colourful frog snuck down the throat of the giant reptile, but Naruto and the sword-wielding frogs jumped free.

Naruto grimaced at the slight failure of his jutsu – with the Five Element Seal in place his natural chakra flow was disturbed, making it harder to perform techniques properly. He would need to finish this as quickly and smoothly as possible.

As a blur, Naruto moved through the village square to escape the reach of the Boss Snake Manda, who roared with pain and fury as the hole in his mouth began to slowly heal. Orochimaru wasn't playing around.

Naruto had noticed that the Sannin was missing his left hand – crippling his ability to perform jutsus. But with his summoning tattoo still intact, the monster could summon snakes to his heart's content.

Naruto had wasted too much chakra, and his control was currently too poor to risk summoning Gamabunta in response, but then he wouldn't need to. Never use any more force than is absolutely necessary. That was a lesson that Orochimaru's own rival – Jiraiya – had hammered into Naruto over the course of years.

Manda was no problem – the problem was finding Orochimaru and getting a safe distance away from the snake summon.

The former was easy, because Orochimaru would be trying to kill Naruto as soon as he showed a moment of weakness, which meant he had to be hiding somewhere close. The latter was deceptively difficult, as giant snakes with monstrous levels of chakra can move very quickly when the need to.

Manda showed no regard for human life or property damage, which only furthered Naruto's resolve to defeat the creature, but he needed to do it without endangering any more lives.

Creating a group of Kage Bunshins, Naruto lured the enraged Manda away from civilians by way of chakra-enhanced feats of strength and speed. Each clone had enough chakra to hurt Manda but not do any serious damage, and the two toad warriors aided as they could, their blades acting like thorns in Manda's scaly hide.

When the job was done and Manda was positioned safely, all but one Naruto puffed away, and he formed a set of rapid seals. At first the jutsu didn't seem to have done anything, but then there was a bulge from within the enormous snake's body, and a dull moan, before suddenly the Boss summon collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Within seconds of collapsing Manda too disappeared, and when the smoke cleared hundreds of brightly coloured frogs hopped around the ground for a few moments before they too disappeared – first all but one, then the last frog gave a tiny salute and returned to his otherworldly home. His toxicity was not enough to kill the great Manda, but multiplied several hundred times by Naruto's Gama Bunshin technique it had been more than enough to incapacitate the Boss.

As Naruto recovered from this task, Orochimaru chose that precise time to attack. He had been hiding in the shadows and jumping between them to follow the young Hokage. With a poisoned kunai in his good hand and chakra powering his body, Orochimaru ripped into the flesh of Naruto with abandon.

The Kage Bunshin exploded as the edge of the kunai pierced it, throwing a burnt Orochimaru to the ground. In a flash of white and yellow the true Naruto was on the Sannin, whose skin suit was half-melted away from the heat of the blast. The true face of Orochimaru's current body was revealed, including its one good eye and one ruined by Kakashi.

Naruto's blows rained down faster than the stunned ninja could react, but instead of dealing a fatal blow Naruto pulled back. He watched as Orochimaru dragged himself up off the ground, but the Hokage was not idle. He held the wrist of his right arm in his left hand, and a look of extreme concentration adorned his face.

Energy collected around Naruto's fist, and it crackled like lightning. So much chakra that it was visible to the naked eye and not just the chakra sense.

The Chidori.

With a burst of speed that tore the ground beneath his feet to rubble and the sound of a flock of morning birds, Naruto dashed at the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru tried to dodge a few times, but everywhere he moved the blonde man would follow, with a calm precision to his movements that seemed far too familiar.

"No..! It can't be! You don't have a Sharingan!"

"I don't need a Sharingan to follow in my teacher's footsteps. I just need something you've never had, Orochimaru.

"Heart."

Naruto's Chidori pierced Orochimaru's chest, his every motion a perfect replica of those of Hatake Kakashi.

"Got you."

**Author's Note: Gah, it's been way too long since I updated. This is what I meant when I said I needed to keep updating constantly to keep my momentum going – it took a lot to get back going on this chapter, even though I knew basically what was going to happen.**

**Sorry everyone. **

**I'm not sure what the next chapter is going to be about. I'm just hoping that I get it done quickly this time.**

**Thanks a lot, and please review (although for some reason I'm not being sent all of the reviews to my inbox, don't understand why).**


	20. Chapter 19

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Nineteen: Seven Swords**

In the Hidden Village of the Mist, in the country of Water, there is a secret chamber.

It rests far beneath the village and the island it is built on, deep, deep in the water.

There are no stairs to get there, no elevators or walkways or tunnels. There is only one way to get there – by swimming.

Now swimming is perhaps the one thing that everyone who resides in the Hidden Mist is good at, so hiding something underwater might not seem like a particularly good idea. In some ways that was why it was the best place for the chamber.

While everyone in the Mist can swim, few of them know the necessary ninjutsu to allow them to swim under the water long enough to reach the ruined temple. But had simple distance been the only barrier the hidden sanctum might not have been such a secret for so long a time. The chamber was deep below the surface of the water, deep enough that only the trained eyes of an elite Mist-nin could find it, deep enough that the pressure of the water would crush a normal human. For the village of the Hidden Mist it was the ultimate hiding place for their greatest secrets.

The chamber itself was simple enough. A round table, seating seven, and behind each chair a gilded scroll resting on a pedestal.

The seven scrolls each contained ancient secrets – the seven ways of the sword, which the ancestors of the Mist shinobi had either found or created long centuries ago. Each scroll was a blood contract that could only be signed by one ninja, and which could never be broken. Once signed, that ninja and that ninja alone would be able to call upon the powers of the scroll – the techniques it bore and the sword to which they belonged.

This was the inner sanctum of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen, traditionally the most powerful of the shinobi of the Mist village, and among the most powerful of the world. The Mizukage at this time was one of them, as had been all but one of his predecessors.

In the room also, there were two other things of note, beside the pool that lead down to the exit tunnel. The first was a sword that lay on the table by one seat. It was long and slightly curved, with a circle cut out of the blade near its tip, and a half circle midway along one edge. The sword rested with its tip in the centre of the table and its hilt facing out to the chair, as if waiting for someone to lift it.

The other remarkable thing in the room at this particular time was that one of the chairs was occupied. In it sat a very strange looking man – his skin seemed to be a pale blue, and he had what appeared to be gills. Overall he gave the distinct impression of being just as related to a shark as he was to a normal human being.

His name was Hoshigaki Kisame. He was one of the Seven Swordsman, but years ago he had betrayed the Mist village and become a missing-nin. He had joined the Akatsuki and been partnered with Uchiha Itachi, and for a long time that had been his life. He wore no forehead protector, not even the slashed one that had marked him as an Akatsuki member, and he had given up wearing the Akatsuki robes long ago.

There was a sack of supplies on the solid stone floor of the temple, and a sleeping bag and other necessities were laid out nearby, including his own sword the Samehada. He'd been there for some time. He had nothing else to do.

Kisame wasn't waiting for anyone in particular, or even waiting for anything at all, but he wasn't surprised to find another ninja climb up out of the entrance pool and dry himself off with a jutsu.

The man was another of the Seven Swordsman – his name was Ichigo Surei. He was a short man, with stubby arms and legs, and a dark blue body suit, with the character for water blazoned on his back in red. He wore his own sword – not as long as the one on the table or the Samehada, but sharp and deadly all the same – on his back. The metal of it was a light red except for a branding of the number one near the hilt.

"Kisame."

"Surei."

"Are you looking for a fight? You know you're not allowed here anymore."

"No? I'm still one of the Seven Swordsman, aren't I? Bound for life one and all."

Kisame didn't look up from the table.

"The Mist's Swordsman. You left the Mist."

"Yeah, I did. And now I'm back."

Surei moved to the table and sat at his own chair.

"Kisame, you can't just come back. You joined the damned Akatsuki!"

"There isn't an Akatsuki any more." Kisame lifted his hands to show Surei. "No rings. The Akatsuki died years back. The Hokage brat finished them off. I stuck around with Itachi because we worked well together. And now that brat's little buddy killed my friend."

"You think I'm going to feel sorry for you?"

"Why not? I got nowhere else to go Surei."

There was silence for a long time. Then Surei got up and bit his thumb, smearing a little blood on the seal that bound the scroll of his sword closed. It glowed, and then with the sound of it unlocking was clearly audible. Surei opened the scroll and read for a while. Occasionally he would mutter something or look at his sword.

After another long while, and without turning, Surei called out to Kisame.

"You could read your own scroll too, you know. You never did fully master the way of the Samehada."

Kisame snorted. "Who ever mastered their sword? I can't think of a single one from the past fifty years."

"Satomaru did."

"What?!" Kisame stood up with shock and indignation. "Impossible!"

"He did it. He is the Mizukage after all."

Incensed, Kisame moved over to his own scroll and opened it in the same way. He began to read over and over the contents, and then grabbed his sword and began to practise the forms contained within with an obvious energy.

Some hours later, the shark man was covered in sweat and panting while Surei was taking a break. The smaller shinobi shook his head and said "Kisame, you know better than to overwork yourself like that."

"Quiet… I can still… work…"

Surei put down his blade and grabbed Kisame's right wrist with his own powerful hand. "I mean it."

Kisame stared at the other Mist-nin for a moment and then relaxed his body. He placed the Samehada on the table, aligned with his chair and scroll, and then slumped back into his chair.

After a moment of looking down, Kisame looked to his side and touched the hilt of the sword that lay near his own.

"So you haven't found a replacement for that Zabuza punk yet, huh?"

Surei stood and moved over to the third sword. He put his own hand on it and lifted the large blade into the air. "Nope." He swung it a few times and put it down again. "Not a bad sword. Bit big for me, but still."

"Shame it's last owner was so pitiful, huh?"

"He was a good ninja. But he never had the potential to master his way of the sword."

"No," Kisame concluded. "Not like Satomaru then?"

"Kisame… About Satomaru…"

"What is it? He get out of shape from all that paperwork? Too many kids running around give wear him out?" Kisame joked with a bitter smile on his face, baring his pointed teeth.

Surei looked at Kisame with dark eyes. "No. He's ill. He's dying."

The missing-nin's eyes flared in disgust and righteous anger. "You're lying! There's no disease that could take him down!"

"He needs a new heart to live, and there's nothing anyone can do."

"Dammit, that's just insane! Just get him a transplant or something!"

Surei's eyes clouded over even further. "No one is compatible. It needs to be a member of his family, and the only ones are his children and…"

"… me. We're brothers, and that's close enough right? He can have mine!"

"Half brothers Kisame. He doesn't have your mother's blood limit. Your bodies are too different."

"DAMMIT!" Kisame pounded his fist down hard on the table, then again, and again. He used such force and strength that the hidden chamber seemed to shake.

"I'm going to go see him." Kisame grabbed Samehada and strapped it to his back, then moved towards the pool. But Surei moved, with a speed that seemed surprising considering his build, and intercepted the shark man's path.

"You can't Kisame. You're a missing-nin. There's no way you'll get into to see him. He's the Mizukage!"

"He's my brother. Don't stop me Surei. Don't stop me." Kisame spoke softly. The emotion in his voice was close, guarded, but it was there all the same. So was a current of anger that told Surei this was the wrong day to play around.

"Look, listen to me. Kisame of the Seven Swordsmen, missing-nin and Akatsuki member will never be let in to see the Mizukage."

"I'll kill anyone who tries to stop me." Surei could tell he was serious.

"Listen. Hoshigaki Kisame, however, might be let in to see his dying brother."

"Interesting. So what's the difference?"

Surei's sword flashed red in his hand, and with a sudden surge of chakra a duplicate appeared in the Mist-nin's left hand, bearing a brand of the number two.

"Give up your sword." The twin blades shone, glowing darkly, but Surei did not raise them to face the other ninja, he simply held them calmly.

"That's impossible. Bound for life one and all, remember?"

"So you can't break the blood contract. Leave the Samehada here. Renounce it."

"Give up my power, you mean, and I won't be enough of a danger anymore for anyone to care." Kisame's eyes were dangerous.

"Something like that."

Kisame removed the Samehada from his back and brandished it. He held the rough blade near to Surei's head threateningly.

Surei didn't budge, his eyes unwavering.

Kisame looked back also, his shallow eyes just as steadfast.

He lifted his sword away from Surei a little, as if he was going to swing at the other swordsman, but in one motion instead he tossed the huge blade onto its place on the table.

"Deal."

And together the two left.

They surfaced near the edge of the small island where the Mist village lay and climbed ashore. The Hidden Mist didn't have any walls or cliffs to pass through – the natural cover of mist was enough to hide them. It was nearly impossible to get there without being guided by a native.

Since there were no barriers to their entry, Surei lead Kisame to the home of the Mizukage – the estate on which Kisame had himself grown up.

The low set building was heavily guarded, and the shinobi visibly bristled at the sight of the missing-nin. "Surei-dono," one asked, "Is his presence here wise?" The meaning behind the "his" was clear to everyone.

"Relax. This is just a concerned man coming to see his brother. Nothing more."

The guards were mistrusting, but they moved aside to let the two pass.

The Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, Hoshigaki Satomaru, was lying in bed. Connected to him were many machines, and covering him was a gigantic work of medical seals.

In health, he might have been a handsome man, but near death he was anything but. His skin was dry on his bones, and his eyes were sunken deep into their sockets. Unlike Kisame he looked as human as anyone that close to dying could, but there was still some resemblance to be seen if one looked hard enough.

His breathing was very shallow, but with effort he opened his eyes at the sound of the pair entering. He tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage more than a slight curve of his lips.

"Well, I guess it's about time I was finally the handsome one of the family, eh Sato?" Kisame said brusquely. He had been trained too well to show his true emotions at a time like this, so no tears came to his unnaturally dark eyes.

Satomaru tried to lift his hand, but failed weakly. Surei moved to his side, and bent down his head to the dying man's mouth to hear a few gasped words. The swordsman nodded, and moved to a dresser at the side of the room. From there he lifted a small wooden box, which he walked back over and handed to the missing-nin.

"He says he knew you would come."

Kisame opened the box, and put it back down where it had come from. Facing the wall, away from his brother and friend, he looked down at what it had contained.

When Hoshigaki Kisame turned back to face the two, his forehead bore the unbroken mark of the Hidden Mist once more.

**Author's Note: Oddly enough, I had written half of this chapter before chapter 255 of the manga was released. If you haven't read it then I'm not going to spoil it for you, and if you have you'll know what I mean.**

**I hope a quick(ish) update helps to make up for the long gap before last chapter.**

**Thanks for all the kind words everyone who reviewed, and thanks as well (though slightly less, damn you) to everyone still reading who hasn't reviewed yet.**

**Boy am I tired.**


	21. Chapter 20

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty: Troublesome Journey**

Of the three Genin cells formed in the sixteenth year of the Rokudaime's reign, it might have been easy to overlook one of them. Easy because without an Uzumaki to be boisterous, loud and above all noticeable, the final Genin team seemed possessed of the fate to be forgotten by all.

This was not a fact that went unobserved by the members of that selfsame team. Why shouldn't people talk about them too? Weren't they just as worthy? Didn't they have a genius on their team? Weren't they doing well too?

It wasn't as if their team lacked for prodigious members. Hyuuga Sazashi, who'd only barely been beaten out in the academy rankings by his cousin Yume; Rock Len, son of the Leaf's Taijutsu Master; and Yamino, the eldest daughter of the revived Uchiha clan.

And yet among the Genin community there was no mention of them. No rumours or hushed whispers. But they were working hard, and they were confident in their skills. Just a little annoyed that they weren't famous for anything, even if it was only a little famous like Rock Lee's team was for fighting a missing-nin.

So when the news of the upcoming Chuunin Exam trickled down to them, they were very secretly pleased. Finally a forum for direct competition. Finally a way for them to prove they were just as good.

Not that any of them said anything of the sort, or even knew consciously that they felt that way, but on some level all of them were pleased.

They were not so pleased when Kiba-sensei had told them that he wasn't planning on entering them. They had strongly objected, or at least Inoki had strongly objected, Len had passionately objected and Sazashi had silently objected.

Inuzaka Kiba had thought back to his own Genin days, and how entering the Chuunin Exam as a rookie had been one of the best experiences of his life, despite being beaten half to death and having to cope with one of his best friends being beaten a lot closer than that. So reluctantly he agreed, on the condition that they got parental approval. He didn't think that their parents would mind, seeing as half of them had done the same and anyway – their children were adults now, strange as that might be.

When Kiba had decided to take a break from working with the Ninja Police, he hadn't expected to end up looking after a bunch of puppies – he'd just been looking for some extra time to relax. Being a police officer was all well and good, but he'd really needed some Kiba time.

He was convinced that Naruto had rigged the teaching assignments just to annoy him. Kiba wouldn't put anything past that bastard of a prankster, oh my no.

He'd even set a task that was impossible to test if they were suitable to become Genin, and yes they'd failed but they'd tried so hard! Kiba couldn't just let them go back to the academy – it would have been a crime!

Damn that Naruto. Thinking he was so clever just because he was the Hokage and got to make the rules.

Rock Len was a lot like his father. Oh sure, he didn't have the eyebrows and he didn't have much difficulty with ninjutsu, but he still wore that green spandex jumpsuit, and he still had that same attitude. Anyone who didn't know who his parents were might have thought he'd end up nothing but a low-level worthless ninja. Len's taijutsu was superb for a rookie Genin, though that was still not particularly noteworthy. Kiba knew well that he'd grow – already he could incorporate ninjutsu into his style in ways his father would never be able to manage.

Uchiha Yamino, with her blonde hair and dark eyes didn't seem too much like either of her parents to Kiba. She didn't have the darkness of her father, and she wasn't anything like the bitch her mother was… to Kiba anyway. Kiba and Ino had never managed to get along, and between the two of their personalities any conversation would inevitably get classed as a disturbance of the peace (Kiba just didn't seem to be able to shake those police instincts) – something that he was sure Naruto had laughed about when he'd been making the teams. Yamino was no genius like her younger brother, but she had a keen mind and a vast potential.

Hyuuga Sazashi, on the other hand, was a genius. And he knew it. He had a fiery soul, barely dimmed by his Hyuuga sensibilities, and the twelve year old never resisted an opportunity to show his superiority off. Not that he was nasty or shallow about it, but he had an overly healthy enjoyment of rubbing it in people's faces. His skill at the Hyuuga Gentle Fist was superb – paralleled by few rookies in the history of Konoha. In pure taijutsu it was clear that Sazashi was above both his Uzumaki cousins, though their younger brother – named for Sazashi's father, even – approached Sazashi, and was his most frequent sparring partner.

Kiba was even becoming a little… dare he say… proud to be their teacher. They were good students, and Akamaru liked them. That was good enough for him.

So he let them apply for the Chuunin Exam with a mixed head, and waited to see if they'd be accepted. Not just everyone could go, considering it wasn't being held in the Leaf, so only the best would be allowed to travel across the country to the Hidden Sand for the competition.

He'd held his breath while the Jounin senseis had all been assembled in front of the Hokage, but of the five teams selected his had been one, letting both him and Akamaru breathe again. Konohamaru didn't let anything faze him when his team passed as well, but if the scarf-wearing Jounin was calm then Lee had been the opposite.

"Ohhhhh! Not only will my youthful students show their passion, but my own son will surely prove his power to the world!"

As everyone faded out from the meeting room, Kiba stayed behind with Naruto. There was a personal meaning in this for them.

"So, a new Rookie Nine, eh Naruto?"

The Hokage grinned. "Of course! And with Uzumakis to lead the way just like last time! Although… No Inuzakas…"

"Bastard. We can't all breed like rabbits you know. Besides, my sis is the heir. It's her job to go and have kids to keep the clan going. As the younger brother I get to have all the fun instead!"

"Ah, you'll feel differently when you finally settle down, you old dog you."

"Never!"

The two friends left together, broad smiles on their faces.

Kiba went directly to give the good news to his eager students, who whooped for delight. In celebration he decided to splurge on a meal out for the whole team, on the condition that they didn't go anywhere that served ramen, because then the likelihood of bumping into an Uzumaki would drop dramatically, and if there was one thing Kiba didn't want to interrupt his team's night out it was one of the ever-growing Uzumaki clan, if only because he didn't want to be sucked into any of their ongoing dramas.

Across the village at that same time, each of the other members of the new Rookie Nine celebrated in their own ways. Yume and Iruka had a big family meal at home, surrounded by their entire family. Kazeko had been invited, along with Choumaru, but the Aikimichi boy was wise enough to know that a third wheel wasn't particularly wanted, and he'd declined. Yume and Kazeko's relationship had not exactly improved for a number of reasons, but it was civil enough for a friendly meal.

Since he'd… decided not to attend the Uzumaki dinner, Choumaru spent the time at home with his own family instead. It might not have seemed particularly special, but to the Aikimichi clan every meal was a special occasion. It wasn't that they were defined by their large diets, but it was the source of their power as shinobi, which was the foundation of their status in Konoha. But they were a small, close family, and just for that reason alone every meal was special.

"'Maru, I know you're nervous; I know you're scared." Aikimichi Chouji had grown to be wise in his time – in small part by the missions and adventures he'd had as a shinobi, but in most by how he had grown as a father over the years.

"I know you're scared son, and you should be. You're about to walk into greater danger than you have ever known, and you're doing it blind." Chouji placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "But! All you've got to do is trust in yourself and your friends and you'll get through it!"

"You sure dad?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

Sakumo didn't spend his evening at home with his mother or in a hearty meal. He walked a lonely path along a dirt road. By the dark of night he'd reached a small house in the forest. It might have been of no consequence to anyone else, but Sakumo pulled a key from within his pocket and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and closed it behind him.

Jo spent his night quietly with his mother and her paranoia. She made him renew all the promises he had given her when he'd become a Genin.

"Never show my face. Never trust Father. Never trust the Leaf."

The next morning they set off. The Rokudaime was there to see them off, with a final message.

"The Sand are our closest allies, that is why we are sending a larger group of candidates than we would normally. Don't forget that you're going out there as representatives of the Hidden Leaf and the Fire country. It's your duty and your responsibility to act like the gifted and talented shinobi you are.

"And never forget that once you step outside these gates you are no longer home. You are guests in a foreign land, and I know you will not disgrace the Leaf.

"I won't wish you good luck because you are Konoha shinobi! You don't need it! Now go!"

The pace was fairly slow. It takes roughly three days to reach the Hidden Sand from the Hidden Leaf, if one travels at a fairly constant high speed. But considering the size and composition of the party it simply wasn't practical, so the trip was expected to take a week.

They started off jumping through the branches of the great forest, and then when that was no longer an option continued by walking. The pace was harsh for some of the slower Genin, but it was manageable.

At night they made camp for a few hours of sleep. The six Jounin senseis kept watch while their students slept, though they took rest where they could.

The sleeping arrangements were a tad uncomfortable (or comfortable, depending on how well you enjoyed sleeping in close contact with the rest of your team), but they made do. And soon enough they crossed the desert and made their way to the village of the Hidden Sand, deep within the country of Wind.

The procession was stopped at the sheer cliff pass that barred entry to the village. ANBU guards stood between the Leaf-nins and the village, demanding their proper papers for passage. Each of the Jounins stood with their own team and presented their documents, and each team in turn was let through.

For most of them it was the first time visiting another Hidden Village, and the Sand and the Leaf were about as dissimilar as they could get. Of the Rookie Nine, three were no strangers to the village of Sand, however.

Iruka and Kazeko walked the streets together, with Choumaru following close behind. The couple had both been visiting the Sand for as long as they could remember, though never before together, so they took delight in showing their amazed friend the sights.

Through the streets a certain figure walked determinately towards the trio, and as he got closer a thrill of fear ran through the Leaf-nins as they sensed a most powerful chakra approaching. But the moment they saw who was walking towards them, both Iruka and Kazeko shouted out in greeting at the same time.

"Uncle Gaara!"

They looked at each other in confusion.

"Uncle Gaara?"

Puzzled, they quickly tried to explain to each other the exact relationship between the two and Gaara, Kazekage of the Sand.

"Well he's my dad's--"

"He's my mum's--"

"—best friend!"

"—brother!"

"OH!" They both exclaimed in relief.

"Whew," Kazeko said, "I thought that could have been disturbing for a second there."

Gaara knelt down next to Kazeko and embraced her gently, as if she might break. She took no such care in flinging her arms around her uncle's neck and hugging him as tight as she could.

When they finally released each other, Gaara smiled and ruffled Kazeko's dark hair a little, making the girl giggle.

Now Iruka threw his hands up towards Gaara, expecting a hug of his own. What he got however, was a rather unexpectedly stern glare and an exceedingly firm handshake. "Iruka, we will have words later."

With each word Gaara's grip on Iruka's hand squeezed some more, and when he finally let go and turned to walk away, Iruka had to gasp and cradle his hand with his other arm. "Ah! I think it's broken!"

"Oh my god, Iruka-kun! Are you alright?!"

"I'll… I'll be fine. I'm an Uzumaki after all! Something as measly as a few broken bones will heal in no time!"

It was true. A quick glance under his skin with his Byakugan and Iruka could already see the fractures sealing back up. The benefits of demon fox blood.

The third member of their team got off about as well as Iruka. In leaving the Kazekage had given Choumaru a look that might have chilled the blood of the bravest ninja in the world.

A few minutes after Gaara had gone and the three Leaf-nins were still standing in the middle of the desert street where he'd left them.

"Say," said Iruka, "Do you think he might know about the two of us?"

Uzumaki Yume knew the Hidden Sand just as well as her little brother, but her Uncle Gaara wasn't on a mission to scare her, so she was free to show Jo and Sakumo around as much as she could.

Although the villagers were normally wary of foreign ninjas, there were few who would not recognize Yume – between her blonde hair, exuberant attitude and the bright orange clothes it was hard to miss the Uzumaki heir – or to forget her, for that matter. So Sakumo and Jo were not given the usual bum's rush but instead what amounted to a warm and open greeting for the reserved people of the Wind country.

"Hey, where are we staying?"

"Mm?" Yume looked at Jo bizarrely. "What do you mean?"

"He means, idiot, that the Exam doesn't start for a few days. We've got to be staying somewhere until then."

"Oh," Yume looked a little crestfallen, but then perked up. "Well, when I'm here I always stay on Uncle Gaara's estate!"

Sakumo and Jo exchanged a Look. This was a look that bore many meanings – chiefly that Yume was being a brat again. It was also a silent note of envy, since neither of them had ever been as fortunate as the blonde girl. They didn't live in fancy mansions or have rich Hokage fathers to look after their every need.

"Idiot." Sakumo emphasised what seemed to be his favourite word. "Look, let's just go find Konohamaru-sensei, okay?"

"No need, I'm right here." His voice called to them from above, and standing horizontally on a wall was indeed their sensei.

"Bah! That's not so impressive anymore Konohamaru-sensei! Come on guys."

Together the three Genin ran up onto the wall, all adhering to it with chakra expertly.

Grinning, they all stood next to their teacher, but instead of praise he shook his head.

"Never show off your skills in enemy territory. You never know who might be watching.

"Now come on, I'll take you to the lodgings."

Already in their suite were Kiba and his team. Typically, they complained, nothing interesting had happened to them. They'd gotten into the village along with the other rookies, and they'd walked around for a while, but the cold stares and constant presence of unfamiliar and unfriendly shinobi had driven them to seek respite. Better to save their energies for the morrow. This was not a strategy that Len had particularly agreed with, but he'd gone along with the wishes of his teammates on the condition that he could get some practise done back in their rooms. Had to keep in shape after all!

As the night fell the team sat together and talked things over. Sazashi had lots of ideas on strategies (which all involved, of course, him taking the most important of the duties), and after the other two had laughed those through their natural course, Yamino came up with some real plans for them to use. It was best for them to be prepared.

Even though they knew the Exam wasn't starting for another two days, none of the three could sleep that first night in the Sand. It was the anticipation, though mixed somewhat with of course the disquiet of being in a new, and dangerous environment. But they talked, and that was just as good as sleep.

"Len, Yamino," Sazashi said. "Do you really think we're ready?"

"Of course!" Was Len's automatic response. "We have the power of youth on our side! We shall not fail."

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Asked Yamino, rolling her eyes. "We're good, and that's all that matters. We're going to go out there and kick ass!"

"Yeah!" Len shouted with too much energy and far too much volume for the early hours of the morning. His team-mates' response was a punch to both the boy's sides.

"But hey," Yamino continued. "Let's make a promise." She held out a hand up above her body. "We won't let anything stop us from succeeding."

Len put his hand on hers straight away, and Sazashi's followed almost as fast. "I promise," he said.

"YEAH!"

"LEN! QUIET!" The other two shouted.

**Author's Note: Well, the first chapter of the Chuunin Arc done. I hope everyone enjoyed it, but if you didn't the real fun is about to begin! He says, not being sure when exactly he'll get around to it.**

**This chapter took a lot longer than it should have done to write. I got bogged down in a couple of details, and I there was a wall that I hit in the beginning on how to get things moving… but it all worked out in the end, I hope. This chapter is probably a bit patchy in terms of quality, but it should have moved the plot forward enough to satisfy… right?**

**I hit 250 reviews! WOOOO! Thank you all so much! Half way to five hundred!**

**Good night!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty One: Dreams**

Uchiha Sasuke was not stable.

This was safe to say.

He had lived for over a decade, more than half his life, working towards nothing but revenge. His family had been killed. Killed by Sasuke's own brother.

Of the entire Uchiha clan, only Sasuke had been spared. He was spared for one reason – so that one day he would kill Itachi. Itachi didn't want to bear the guilt for what he'd done, so he'd left Sasuke alive that one day he would tae revenge and make Itachi pay.

With Sasuke alive, Itachi could live as well without that burden.

With Itachi alive, Sasuke could not live.

He dedicated himself to gaining power so that he might achieve his two ambitions – to kill Itachi, and to revive his clan.

But faced with his weakness, Sasuke forgot his second dream and focused solely on gaining power. Gaining enough power to take his vengeance at last. He forgot that one day he'd need to have a home to restore his clan in, and he betrayed the Leaf.

Sasuke went to Orochimaru for power, and power he got. But only the intervention of his two closest friends – Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura – had saved him from becoming the next vessel for the evil of the Snake Sannin.

Sasuke had left the Sound and become a wanderer.

And at eighteen years of age he'd finally rammed his hand straight through his brother's chest.

And the mind of the last of the Uchihas had shattered.

Revenge was… empty. There was nothing beyond it. Nothing except a seven-year-old boy, crying by his parents' corpses.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

He woke, screaming. His heart beat. Fast. Faster. Chilled sweat coated him. He shook. Held his hands up. Red. Covered in blood. Blood everywhere.

Eyes. Red. In the darkness. Staring.

It was nothing. Nothing. It was nothing.

Sasuke wheezed, forcing his body calm. The door swung open and someone dashed into the room.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?"

Ino was at Sasuke's side in a second. She took a hand to his forehead and spoke soothing murmurs, just like she did every night, for every nightmare.

It was a strange situation as far as anyone was concerned. Sasuke had been back in the Leaf village for three months. The day he'd returned, there had been no remnant of sanity in him, and he was barely recognizable as himself.

Without the focus of revenge to drive him, Sasuke had reverted. Instead of being the mature adult he should have been, he was just a child who'd never developed the essential emotional and social skills. A seven-year-old mind in an eighteen-year-old body.

Everything had been simple to his shattered psyche. He was back at home. He had his Best Friend, Naruto, and his True Love, Sakura, and that was all he needed.

Except, of course, while Naruto was his friend the days of them being best friends were long gone. Six years apart from each other had seen to that.

And Sakura might once have loved Sasuke, but that too was a long time past. Her heart had been through far too much strain over the course of what could barely be called their relationship, and she had moved on. Sasuke was still very important to her, but only as a friend.

Sakura and Naruto had both made their own lives in their home without him – Sakura in running the Konoha Hospital and Naruto in being the Rokudaime. They hadn't needed him to get where they were, where they'd needed to be.

They'd known something was wrong when Sasuke had been… nice. And happy. He had practically been skipping on the way back to Konoha, that day.

Naruto as Hokage and Sakura as a doctor, they'd assigned the best possible choice of person to look after their disturbed friend – Yamanaka Ino, who knew more about the mind than either of them put together. She cared for Sasuke as well as they did.

It had been a surprise for him when he'd gone to the Uchiha estate and found Ino waiting for him, but he'd adapted. At first he'd been happy to see her, just in the same way he was so over-the-top happy to see everyone from the Good Old Days.

His reminiscences were hyper; jumping from topic and mood at lightspeed as Ino tried to keep up. Sasuke wasn't fazed by the news that she was to stay with him, but then in that state he wasn't capable of understanding the ramifications behind the news.

He wasn't under house arrest, but Naruto had made it clear to Ino and as clear as he could to Sasuke that he wasn't to leave. Not until he could be trusted.

"I'm okay… just the dream again…" Ino rubbed her hands against Sasuke's head, sending cool pulses of chakra into him, smoothing out the tangles in his thoughts.

She did this every night, almost. It had taken a few days for the shell of unnatural happiness to break and for some real emotions to pour through, but since then Ino had always been there for Sasuke.

It was her job, sure, but she cared for him a lot. She wouldn't pretend that she loved him – she wasn't a little girl anymore to fall for every pretty boy who crossed her path, but she did find happiness in looking after him. Not that she didn't miss doing missions and spending time with everyone else, but for the moment she was content helping Sasuke back to health.

As his breathing returned to normal, he told Ino the details he could remember from the dream. When he was done, and his shaking had subsided, Ino got up to go back to her own room.

"Stop."

She turned her head back to look at her friend.

"Stop. Please Ino, just… stay."

"I'll be right next door Sasuke, don't worry."

"No," his face was contorted, struggling with some complex emotion he wasn't equipped to deal with.

"No, stay with me. Please. I don't want to be alone."

Ino weighed up her options. "Okay, I'll get a futon."

"It's okay, you can sleep here." Sasuke opened up the sheets on the other side of his double bed. "Please, I don't want to be alone."

Ino nibbled at her bottom lip, considering. "You'd better not touch me, mister, or else!"

Ino crawled into the bed aside Sasuke and settled in at her end. She stayed as far away from Sasuke's body as she could without alienating him.

They didn't talk, and Ino soon let herself fall into a light sleep. Sasuke watched her. She looked peaceful like an angel, with waves of long blonde hair falling her over face. Her body moved rhythmically with her breath, and her calm rippled out to Sasuke. With her body there next to him, the last of the Uchihas fell into slumber.

Somewhere far away within her mind Ino dreamt happily. Unlike the man whom in the real world she lay next to, Ino did not have nightmares. Or at least very rarely – she could count them on just one hand for her entire life. One had been when her team-mates Chouji and Shikamaru had come back injured from their mission to save Sasuke. Another had been two months ago, when Sasuke had first opened up to her and told Ino the details of his nightmare and what he'd gone through.

When something touched her, Ino woke instantly with her years of trained reflexes.

It was Sasuke's hand. It had flailed out in his uneasy sleep. The slender man tossed and turned, moaning and softly shaking. His eyes flickered rapidly beneath their lids, and Sasuke dreamt darkly.

Seeing him in such pain, Ino's heart went out to her friend. She wouldn't wish what he went through trying to piece his shattered mind together on anyone. He showed her a brave face during the day, but in dreams he couldn't hide anymore.

Doing all she could, Ino edged closer to Sasuke. When she was close enough, Ino wrapped her arms around him and held his back close. With one hand of his in hers, and the sweet smell and feel of her form so close, Sasuke's tremors came to their end, and he breathed clear and deep once more.

Ino fell back into her happy dream, wrapped round Sasuke.

In the morning Sasuke woke up alone. His first thought was that Ino had abandoned him, just like everyone abandoned him. Typical. Just when Sasuke thought he could trust someone and let them into his life they'd just betray him.

But… there was something wrong. Some hint in the air around him. The hint of a scent he found familiar – the aroma of flowers and growth and life.

Just at that moment the door to his room opened again and in came the blonde woman herself.

Beaming at him, she began to speak, but Sasuke moved over to her and grabbed her body with his arms. He was firm but she didn't hurt at all, so Ino didn't make any effort to escape his embrace.

Sasuke moved his face down to the small of her neck and inhaled sharply. It was her scent after all.

He pulled away and back, freeing the girl.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?"

She seemed concerned. He smiled.

"You smell nice, that's all."

**Author's Note: Really short chapter this time, I know. Still, I got it out pretty fast, eh? Nothing like my old speed, but at least I've been getting some sleep.**

**Hope you enjoyed it, because otherwise I'll feel bad. Next chapter will be a lot longer, don't worry about that.**

**Here's a list of the couplings and children thus far revealed, since a couple of people have asked for it.**

**Naruto + Hinata (lots of the little devils, but the important ones are Yume and Iruka)**

**Lee + Tenten (Len)**

**Sasuke + Ino (Yamino)**

**Chouji + ? (Choumaru)**

**Sakura + Neji (Sazashi)**

**Shikamaru + Temari (Kazeko)**

**Konohamaru + Hanabi**

**Kurenai + ? (Sakumo)**

**? + ? (Jo)**

**Kiba – unmarried.**

**So the three teams of the Rookie Nine are:**

**Sensei - Hyuuga Konohamaru (married into the Hyuuga)**

**Uzumaki Yume,**

**Yuuhi Sakumo,**

**Nanaka Jo.**

**Sensei - Rock Lee**

**Uzumaki Iruka,**

**Nara Kazeko,**

**Aikimichi Choumaru.**

**Sensei – Inuzaka Kiba**

**Hyuuga Sazashi,**

**Uchiha Yamino,**

**Rock Len.**

**Everyone clear on that now?**

**Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you leave some more!**

**Later.**


	23. Chapter 22

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Heaven Over Earth**

"Oh!! Look, it's Jin–kun!"

Gasps turned into bursts of high-pitched screaming in the windy streets of the Hidden Sand. The idol of the girls, the number one rookie, the Genin voted most beautiful male three years in a row – it was Jinsei. Jinsei of the Desert.

"Don't call him that Yasha! It's Jinsei-sama, got it!"

Spotting the crowd of fangirls, Jinsei smiled openly. His red hair waved in the breeze, framing the delicate features of his face and making all the girls sigh. His sea-green eyes glittered within the black circles that marked them.

"Come on, I'm going for a run! Who wants to tag along?"

"Ooh! I do!" Shouted one of the girls, and not to be outdone the others added their own enthusiastic concurrences.

"There here we go!"

Jinsei set off on a light jog around the village, allowing for his fangirls to keep up. They were about half way round when he spotted a familiar figure. He could tell from the colour – there couldn't be many ninjas who'd wear orange. Getting closer just confirmed it with the oh-so familiar long, blonde spikes he could see on the figure's head.

"Yume! Hey Yume!"

The figure turned, revealing a pretty grinning girl. "If it isn't Jin-kun. What a nice surprise. Still trailing along the hopefuls, I see?"

The crowd following their idol reared up like a gang of cats and as one hissed at whom they saw. They didn't like Uzumaki Yume. Not one tiny, tiny bit.

"Aw, the girls and me are just out for a run. You're here for the Exam then, huh? Sorry to say it but if anyone's making Chuunin here it's me."

Cheers accompanied Jinsei's declaration. One girl shouted out "You show that Leaf hussy Jinsei-sama!"

Yume didn't seem to even notice, though Sakumo and Jo beside her exchanged a glance.

"Oh Jin Jin Jin. I know you have to put a brave face on in front of the fan club, but we both know how things are really going down."

The two shinobi stared at each other. The air pressure skyrocketed, and suddenly staggering levels of chakra were felt by those sensitive enough. Both of the children seemed to have power to rival most adults, and neither was letting up. The intensity between them rose and rose, until…

"Hah!"

"Dammit!"

Yume made a mock effort of cursing, then laughed. "Never can get you to blink first."

"You can try for centuries if you want, and you'll never beat me." Jinsei laughed as well, false triumph glowing behind his stare. A number of the fangirls took this as an opportunity to cheer for their hero, and Jinsei gave them a royal wave and a wink. Unfortunately several of them fainted. After Jinsei checked that they were okay, he turned back to his lifelong friend, who had more left to say.

"Of course it's a shame that you lose in everything else." Yume walked forward and patted the boy on the shoulder. "Oh yeah? Like what, exactly?"

"Like height." Yume measured the difference between them with her tongue sticking out.

It was the morning of the Chuunin Exam was scheduled to start. Tensions were running more than a little high, under the warmth of the Wind country sun. Well over two hundred Genin from nearly ten countries had come with their hopes held high and the honour of their home village in their hands.

Fifteen of those Genin were from the village of Hidden Leaf, and nine of those were rookies fresh out of the training academy. For many it didn't look like the Leaf would be doing well at all, not this Chuunin Exam anyway.

"So Yume, this is your team? Don't look like very much."

Sakumo smirked, "Try saying that again once the Exam starts."

Jinsei laughed, and then extended his hand to Sakumo and Jo who both shook it.

"Come on," he said, "The Exam is starting soon. I'll show you the way."

"Thank you," said Jo politely. "But we already know it!" Yume triumphantly finished. "Now come on team!"

The Leaf-nins walked away from Jinsei of the Desert and his fan club, and the red-haired boy realised that it was past time for him to meet up with his own teammates, so he bid the girls goodbye and went on his own way.

At the domelike building the other Leaf teams were all assembled, along with most of the contestants hailing from the other villages, and a very large group of Sand Genin. Yume, Sakumo and Jo slotted nicely into the gathering of Leaf-nins along with their former classmates.

Over the next ten minutes the rest of the Genin examinees arrived in their teams of three. Most of the shinobi taking part in the Exam were young, in their mid teens. There were exceptions of course – the Rookie Nine were all twelve, excluding the eleven year old Jo, and there were even cases on the other end of the spectrum.

"Hey Kazeko, look over there." Iruka pointed at something, and his girlfriend followed the line of his finger. "That guy with the Hidden Moon forehead protector. He's got to be sixty if he's a day! And still a Genin!" The two of them laughed at that, as did the other rookies when they joined in, but all of them were shut up when they noticed how the other contestants were staring at them.

Drawing the attention of everyone taking the Exam was not one of Iruka's best thought out plans.

The error's impact was lessened when the door to the building swung open. Out from it walked a tall man, wearing a Jounin vest over the standard yellow-brown uniform of a Sand-nin. He had short hair that looked like it stood sharp enough to be a weapon, and the rest of him looked just as deadly. Sharp eyes pierced through the lenses of his glasses, which rested on a sharp nose.

"Come in all of you," he gestured towards the door. "Your seating assignments will be handed out as you enter by my assistants. I am Ohmura Iranin, the first Examiner."

The Genin filed into the building where there were tables and chairs for all of them. Chunnins stood at either side of the door and handed out seat numbers to those who entered. Once everyone was seated, Iranin stood at the head of the room and faced all the expectant examinees.

He sneered. "Doesn't look like many of you have what it takes.

"This is the writer portion of the Exam. Each of you will be given a test consisting of ten questions to pass, and--"

"Iranin-san!" A Sand Chuunin burst in through the door. "Iranin-san, there's been a…. Oh." The Chuunin, a young man in his late teens, stopped in noticing the throng of shinobi sitting within the room. "I apologise Iranin-san, but I need to speak with you." He bowed to the Genin and walked out of the room.

The Examiner scowled and followed suit, leaving the examinees and the junior examiners alone in silence.

For several minutes the silence grew more and more uncomfortable, and the Genin felt no different.

Finally Iranin walked back through the thick steel door. His every movement spoke of a most sombre mood, and when he opened his mouth so did his words.

"I have been informed that there is a traitor among you. Possibly several. Until we can safely ascertain who it is…" Iranin looked down at the assembled Genin. The eyes that could be seen above the rim of his glasses were blood-shot and rage-filled. "None of you are leaving here.

"This exam is officially over."

No sooner had the Jounin stopped talking than the crowd of examinees erupted into angry complaint. Yume jumped to her feet along with many others, including the whole of Sazashi's team.

One Genin took the news slightly worse than the rest, and with a bloody yell deep in his throat he lunged at Iranin. For a moment his kunai flashed a wet green in the air, but before anyone knew it the Stone-nin was finished. In Iranin's powerful grip he couldn't move, and his poisoned weapon was held to his own throat.

"Take this scum to a holding cell," Iranin told one of his aides. "If any of you really want to join him just come forward." He handed the Stone Genin over to someone else to deal with. "All you'll have to worry about then is sitting in a holding cell, waiting until we can prove you're really who you say you are.

"So…" he paused to sweep his malevolent gaze across the room. "Any takers? Or will our little traitor stand up and come forward? Maybe I'll even be able to restart the Exam once we've sorted this problem out."

No one moved. They stood breathless in the face of Iranin, whether it was from fear or caution.

Iranin sat down, pushed his glasses back up to the top of his nose and watched the mass without saying a word. Those who were standing felt the weight behind his stare and somehow couldn't force themselves to move and sit back down again. Even the normally fearless Yume trembled a little, feeling like she was made of solid, immovable stone.

The clock ticked forward, much louder than it had seemed before.

Iranin began to tap a pen to his pad. The sound echoed throughout the room at a precise rhythm, and the hearts of all the Genin seemed to beat in time with it. The Sand Jounin stopped, and everyone else's hearts skipped a beat.

"Well? No takers?" His words snapped out of his throat.

A number of Genin nervously raised their hands in the air, glancing apologetically at the rest of their teams scattered throughout the large room.

Iranin snapped his fingers and Chuunins escorted the owners of the offending hands outside.

Time passed slowly, and the pressure began to get to more and more of the assembled Genin, as more and more raised their hands and were dumped in confinement. Yume had somehow found the strength to sit down, along with her cousin Sazashi and his team, Yamino and Len.

This was not a good development. Yume had not worked so hard to get accepted to her first Chuunin Exam only for it to be shut down before she even had a chance to beat anyone up! She resolved to do something about it..

A few rows ahead of his sister sat Iruka, who already was doing something about it. Keeping a (relatively) cool head, Iruka had activated his Byakugan blood limit, giving him an almost perfect view of the entire room. If there really was a traitor in there somewhere, and they did anything to give themselves away, Iruka was going to catch it.

Others in the room had the same idea. Jinsei put his head in his hands as if he were tired, but high above him a cloud of sand formed into an unblinking eye to watch over the class.

Minutes that seemed like hours went by with little happening. Several more Genin raised their hands to volunteer themselves, and after a while Iranin gave a final look over the room before standing.

As he stood, the breath of almost all the Genins stuck in their throats as they could sense the pressure of his presence acutely. He spoke in calm and clear terms:

"Those of you who are missing team-mates now, stand up. You'll need to be questioned as well, and you can't take part in the Exam without a full team anyway."

No one stood.

"I. Said. Stand." Every syllable was like a punch to the face. Many of the Genin stood up and were shepherded out by the Chuunin aides. Iranin addressed the remaining teams.

"That goes the same for the rest of you. If any of you happen to think someone on your team might be the traitor, stand forward and all three of you will be taken in. Informers will be treated much, much more hospitably than actual offenders."

At this the mass of shinobi was thrown into a quiet panic. They jittered around in their seats, looking at their teammates in suspicion and not trusting anyone around them. Some of the remaining Genin raised their hands, and their teams were escorted away. Others did not go so easily.

Hyuuga Sazashi had been using his Byakugan for quite some time, and was getting a little tired. On the plus side, the chakra he'd lost had not gone to waste. Of all the people in the room, he was sure that he'd found the only one who could be the traitor.

Judging by the Sand-nin's body language and movements, which Sazashi could read like an open book, he was the best bet. Using the pre-arranged signals, Sazashi relayed a set of numbers to his teammates. Each number corresponded to a position in the room, and all together they indicated the Genin Sazashi believed to be the traitor.

Yamino got the message, and with a few discreet seals sent her consciousness outside of her body. It entered the body of the appropriate ninja, and he smirked. Success.

He – or rather Yamino controlling his body – raised a hand and got up. The rest of his team groaned and cursed and did the same, and didn't even notice the quick releasing seal he performed.

Back in her own body, Yamino watched as the confused Genin was taken outside, arguing that he never stood up, so why were they taking him away?

Iruka had similarly spotted his own target, and using a similar method had pointed him out to Choumaru and Kazeko. It was the kimono-wearing kunoichi who took the lead for them.

She spoke up. "Excuse me, I need to use a toilet."

Iranin nodded to one of the Chuunin examiners, who got up and stood at the end of Kazeko's row of seats. The Leaf girl put a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn and stood.

At the exact same time Iruka's chosen suspect stood, with his hand over his mouth as well. The rest of the Rain-nin's team stood up to join him, and they were ushered away while Kazeko was taken to the toilet with a smile on her face. Her Shadow Copy had been a perfect success.

In front of one Genin tiny granules of sand came together as if by magic. Combining, they spelled out a coded message for the masked Sand-nin, who twitched his hands slightly. Tiny threads of chakra flew from the tips of his fingers to hold his target still, and then guide his movements up.

The Sand Genin used his chakra strings to keep the other shinobi's mouth shut while the Chuunins took him and his team away.

By now barely a fifth of the original number remained in the room. The clock ticked on, the minute hand slowly moving up to its apex. Fifty-one pairs of eyes watched it move, waiting for the time their test had supposed to have finished.

Three.

Two.

One.

Iranin clapped his hands. "Well done, all of you. You've passed the first test of the Chuunin Exam."

There was massive protest from the room, but it was quickly hushed still by a glare from the Sand Jounin's dark eyes. The Genin let him continue.

"I'm sure some of you have gathered by now that there was no traitor. This entire morning has been a test of some of your most important skills.

"First of all," he listed, one finger raised from his fist. "You needed to be able to maintain calm despite your own fear. Unless you can do this then you will never be able to succeed on a dangerous mission."

A second finger joined the first. "Secondly, you needed to be able to keep your eyes on the goal – if you cannot stick to your mission then as a ninja you are worthless."

His middle finger was now displayed to them. "Thirdly, some of you showed us you were capable of using your intelligence and instinct to find the members of the group who did not fit in. As almost all of our Chuunin plants have been removed through some means or other, you were obviously successful. Information is more vital than any jutsu."

Now only Iranin's thumb was still held closed. "Finally, and most importantly of all, to pass this test you had to trust your team-mates. There is no room for petty differences or distrust among true shinobi. You will be relying on these people for your lives – trust is the most important thing you will ever need.

"If any of you fail from now on, don't let it be because you couldn't trust anyone else.

"Only those who have a supreme confidence in their missions and their goals will succeed in walking the path of the ninja. To have the resolve to continue no matter the risk to yourself, that is something that all Chuunins need.

"And now, go forward to the second test with that confidence."

At that, the metal door opened hard enough to send the dull note shaking through the whole room. From the bright outside came a most bizarre figure.

What was either a remarkably small man or an extremely old looking child sat atop a wooden platform supported by a full set of mechanical spider legs. When he spoke, it was with an old tone and a high-pitched squeal.

"Alright alright! Time to go go go! It's time for the second test, yes yes. Follow me!"

Though he didn't seem to move, the spider legs rotated on the spot and scuttled back out the door. Moments later he swivelled back again and returned.

"Forgot to say, sorry, I am Examiner for second test. Chime. Chime-san to you, yes. Now follow!"

**Author's Note: The character of Jinsei is dedicated to a really great friend of mine.**

**This chapter was pretty hard to write because I had to think of a good first test. I didn't just want to outright copy the one from the manga. I hope I succeeded, so please tell me what you thought of it. It was difficult because the real one was so perfect for what it was.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review. I just need 17 more reviews to hit 300, which is a little over what I get on average, so if just a few more people review than normal then I could get over this cliff before the next chapter is posted!**

**Good night.**

**PS: Because Aloi-chan asked for it, here is the complete list of Naruto and Hinata's children, in order of birth.**

**Yume**

**Iruka**

**Neji  
Hanako**

**Obito**

**Koyuki**


	24. Chapter 23

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Three: Heaven Meets Earth**

As the second Examiner for the Chuunin Exam scuttled forward through the streets of the village of Hidden Sand, fifty-one bemused Genin followed on foot.

Chime wasn't moving particularly fast, so neither was the crowd of Genin behind him. They were divided into seventeen teams of three, and for the most part that was a formation they stuck to. Four of the five teams from the Leaf to enter the Exam had passed, including all of the Rookie Nine. However they didn't feel like congratulating each other. They might have been friends and family before that first test, but now they'd had a taste of how dangerous the real world could be and how much they still had to learn.

The Spider-nin was extremely small, with the proportions of a young child, but beyond the first look his body seemed certainly to be that of an adult, and an adult ninja to boot. He sat inside a pod supported by eight mechanical spider legs, and with only the slightest movements he propelled them, and him, forward. His appearance wasn't almost laughable – it was outright comical.

After a few minutes of weaving through the streets of the village, the group came out of the village itself and into a rocky wilderness. Signs marked it as the start of the Sand village's training grounds, and following a precise path Chime lead the Genins to one training area in particular.

From the air high above it might have looked like one large rock formation, or perhaps just a plateau. From a slightly lower altitude one would be able to tell that it was made up of a series of huge stonewalls running parallel to one another. From the perspective of the fifty-one Genin, the walls towered above them almost as far as they could see. The stone was riddled with holes – caves and passages and tunnels, and between each wall was a narrow pass leading all the way to a far distant opening.

They were stood facing one of the openings, and if they strained their eyes hard enough in the distance they could make out some sort of building deep within the rock.

Once Chime saw that the teams had noticed the building, the Jounin began explaining to them what it was and why it was important.

"As you can see, yes yes, down in the Sea of Stone there is a shrine. You have to go to that shrine, yes yes, as a complete complete team. All teams need to have a Heaven and an Earth Earth scroll to pass. Need to take from other team somehow, yes.

"Have three days to do it, no more. Here here, sign these," He gestured and Chuunin assistants started handing out sets of forms to each of the Genin participants, asking the shinobi to read them carefully and then choose whether or not to sign.

Chime explained them in broad terms: they were consent forms so that the Hidden Sand would not be held accountable should any of them be injured or killed.

After they'd all been signed and handed back in, each team were invited to enter a small booth and receive their scroll in private, where no one could see which type of scroll they were given or who was carrying it.

Unless of course you could see through walls. With an advanced bloodline, perhaps. Like, say, the Byakugan.

Three of the Genin taking the Exam had the Byakugan, so three teams were perfectly capable of cheating. But as they handed in their consent forms, each of the three was taken aside.

"You're a Hyuuga, right? We know about your eyes, so don't try and cheat. You can use them as soon as the test starts and no sooner."

Yume protested when it was her turn. "Hey! I wasn't going to do anything like that. And I'm not a Hyuuga, I'm an Uzumaki, and you'd better remember that! Uzumaki Yume, that's me!"

The name Uzumaki brought some attention on the blonde girl straight away. It wasn't a name you could use and not garner interest wherever you went, not after the life Yume and Iruka's father had lived.

Iruka noticed how most of the foreign nins had turned their heads to watch Yume, and silently sighed. With a simple motion he created a genjutsu to hide his whisker marks. Yume might have blown her identity straight away, but Iruka preferred a little more anonymity.

As well as getting their scrolls, each team was assigned a number from one to seventeen. Each number corresponded to a passageway entrance, and each passageway lead a different path into the Sea of Stone. As soon as the test began, the teams would be set free into the training ground to survive as best they could.

Sakumo grabbed Yume and Jo by the collar. They'd taken their first few steps into the dark tunnel – just enough to be out of sight. "Hold up, we need to think this out a little better."

Giving them a gentle push, the tall boy set their new speed as a slow and careful walk.

"Yume, use your Byakugan. Jo, check for genjutsus."

The other two nodded and formed the seal to generate the needed chakra. Veins around Yume's eyes thickened and pulsed, chakra flowing through them and into her pale eyes to activate the blood limit she had inherited from her mother. Jo used chakra to enhance his perceptions as best he could; looking for any chakra signals or tiny details that might mean a genjutsu was nearby. The younger boy was still wearing the robes that hid his special outfit, and somewhere under the layers of cloth was their Heaven scroll.

As Jo did that, Yume's world expanded around her. Instead of a narrow, dark tunnel she could see in every direction around her uninhibited by the rocky cave walls. There were many other tunnels that she could see all around them, though not all of them went anywhere and only a few intersected with their own path.

She could also see people in those tunnels – other Genin taking the Exam, just like them. She couldn't make out too much detail on most of them, but she could tell where they were just fine.

Yume pointed in the specific directions to her teammates, and quietly mentioned how far away they were and what else she could see.

Sakumo began to think out their strategy.

Elsewhere, Rock Lee's team of Genin were racing towards the shrine. They had pride in their speed, being the students of the fastest Jounin in the world, so theirs was a strategy taking this strength into account. Iruka had come up with it straight away.

"It's simple," he'd explained. "No matter what you do, everyone has to make their way to the shrine eventually, right? It's the one place we can guarantee that everyone we meet will have scrolls. We're bound to be one of the fastest teams here, and with my Byakugan we'll be able to see the quickest route. We get there before anyone else and we can set a trap. Then we just take the scrolls of whomever we need. And that way there'll be no way for anyone to take our scroll."

Kazeko and Choumaru hadn't seen a flaw in this plan, so the large boy had handed a soldier pill to each of his friends. With the boost in chakra and energy they would be able to make it to the shrine in double time, and there their plan would begin.

Much like his cousins, Hyuuga Sazashi saw the enormous benefit of the Byakugan in this situation. The Hyuuga bloodline was the greatest in Konoha for good reason, he thought as he activated its powers. Its abilities could come in handy in almost any situation, whether combative or not.

Len's green suit melded into the darkness surprisingly well, and Yamino followed Sazashi's lead without second thought. The trio headed straight for the nearest other team with haste.

They ran through the tunnel with Sazashi ahead of the other two. The rhythm of their movements flowed through the ground in steady but light vibrations. It was possible that any other team would have been taken by surprise, and the fight would have been over quickly.

"Someone's coming," a girl said. "This way, fast." She was a Hidden Sand ninja, and she wore the light brown clothes of her village. Her voice had a cheerful lilt and a lightness to it as if she were having fun. She had a small hand touched to the ground of the tunnel, and her long blonde hair was barely visible in the darkness.

"Mai, get up." This voice had lightness as well, but it was mixed in with darkness. Jinsei of the Desert did not think of this as a game. With a surge of chakra sand moved through the dark air of the cave.

Sazashi sped up as he saw the figures he was tracking stop. He began to move at the fastest he could without using chakra, and his teammates followed suit. Len was not using anywhere near his top speed, but if he did that then he would be moving out of formation. Yamino needed to use chakra to keep up, but not enough to be dangerous. She had a talent for taijutsu anyway.

Jinsei created a layer of sand over the floor, and Sazashi ran straight on to it. The trap was sprung. The grains of sand flew up to surround his legs, and the dark-haired Genin jerked painfully forward. The sand had solidified, and despite any efforts Sazashi couldn't budge.

From slightly behind him Yamino and Len reacted faultlessly. Gathering chakra to the sole of their feet they switched to running on the side of the tunnel wall and avoided Jinsei's snare. Chakra erupted from Len and he became a blur, and almost instantly his leg impacted with Jinsei's face, sending the redhead smashing straight into the rocky side of the tunnel.

Sand flaked off Jinsei and he groaned. Mai and his other teammate leapt into retaliation as fast as they could while Sazashi attempted to hack away at the sand surrounding his feet.

A masked Sand-nin moved towards Yamino, but before he came into range he suddenly stopped and brought his hands up in front of his chest. Flexing his fingers, tiny invisible threads of chakra spun out from their tips.

"Hurry up!" Iruka shouted to his team. They had worked their way through the waves of stone and were now in the open air of the narrow pass leading to the shrine. All they had to do now was reach it and set their trap. Together they put on their maximum speed for the long sprint.

Yume, Jo and Sakumo crept through the dark cave. Jo had removed his outer robe to reveal and activate the genjutsu on his clothing, and he stood at the front of the group. Together they edged ever closer to their targets. Yume had found a route that crossed over into theirs just ahead of the other team, and this was where they planned their ambush.

Jo jumped out in front of the group of Cloud-nins who reacted admirably well. Unfortunately for them, a second before they hurled their kunai their eyesight had connected with the intricate seals covering Jo, and they were caught in his genjutsu. As far as they could tell, their kunai passed straight through him, and yet they could sense his chakra and feel his presence in every way. For young shinobi this was unsettling to say the least.

Jo moved forward and threw a few of his own kunai, which were barely dodged. One managed to pierce the shoulder of a Cloud-nin who was a fraction too slow. Sakumo and Yume took this opportunity to make their appearance from out of the shadows, dashing towards their targets with grace and sureness.

Sakumo attacked a Cloud kunoichi with his kodachi, and the girl barely managed to block in time. She created a small pocket of air with a wave of her chakra-enhanced hand, and Sakumo's blade was stopped dead.

Yume didn't attack her opponent dead on – instead she gathered chakra to her legs and jumped over him, spinning around in a whirl to land behind him. With her fingers crossed she created four Kage Bunshins to back her up.

Jo moved slowly towards the third; his movements looked as if he were a mirage, a heat haze in the hot desert or some shadow in the dark of the passage. The Cloud-nin who stood in the middle backed away in discretion. He couldn't be sure exactly what was happening with Jo, and rushing into a confrontation he knew was definitely not the wise thing to do.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't given a choice, as one of Yume's clones punched him soundly in the head, knocking him out. Another Kage Bunshin did the same to the Cloud kunoichi, leaving just one ninja to face seven enemies.

"Which one of you had your scroll?" Sakumo asked, sheathing his sword. "Tell us and we'll leave you to look after your team-mates. Otherwise we'll have to hurt you, and believe me your odds aren't good."

Without speaking, the lone Genin reached inside his pack and brought out their scroll. He handed it to Jo, who had extended a single gloved hand. The Nanaka boy examined it for a moment. "It's the real thing."

Yume grinned, "Then it's time to get going! I bet we're the first ones there!" She took the newly acquired Earth scroll and hid it inside her own clothes.

Konohamaru's team of Genin left their defeated foes behind, though Yume kept her Kage Bunshins as rear guards just in case the Cloud Genin got any funny ideas about taking revenge.

A few stone waves away, the battle between Sazashi's team and the home favourites was raging. The black-masked Sand Genin used strings of chakra to try and grab hold of Len, but the son of Rock Lee was far too fast for the slow moving threads. So instead he took hold of Sazashi's arm and forced it out into Len's path, knocking the spandex wearing Genin over in mid dash.

Yamino considered the angles and positions of all six of the Genin within the cave and prepared her own solution to the problem. She gathered chakra in her stomach and performed a few seals, blowing out a large fireball directly into the paths of the Sand-nins.

For a moment none of the Leaf shinobi could see what had happened to their rivals – between the flame and the smoke much of the cave was hidden from sight. But then through the hot smoke shot sand shuriken, followed by the bounding forms of the Sand trio. Jinsei was fine, though even more sand armour crumbled from his body, but the other two were badly singed.

Len and Yamino easily avoided Jinsei's attack, but the still-immobilized Sazashi found it much more difficult. Being in the centre of the tunnel, he was in the path of more of the shuriken than his teammates, and without the ability to move the lower half of his body the Hyuuga genius would have been in much more danger anyway. Using the Gentle Fist he was able to slap away several of the shuriken, but he took one directly in the chest, followed by another to his left thigh.

Mai growled half in anger and half in pain. "You utter bitch. See how you like it!" Chakra flowed through her inner coils, letting the kunoichi move freely even through the pain, and the two blondes faced off in a duel. Mai hurled kunai only for Yamino to deflect them with her own. Mai's taijutsu seemed matched evenly with the Leaf-nin's. But the girl from the Sand had one advantage over her counterpart – she had more passion. She pushed Yamino far back into the tunnel, even though neither was able to do any real damage to the other. So Mai decided to do something slightly different.

From their relative positions, because Mai had forced Yume to retreat somewhat, the Sand kunoichi was closer to something very important – Sazashi.

"Ebirou! Hold the pretty boy still!"

"You mean Jinsei or the guy with the hair?" Came the mocking reply, but Ebirou obeyed Mai's request, and more strings of chakra flew towards the Hyuuga, who jolted to rest.

Mai smiled and hurled a kunai as hard as she could at his gut.

"NOOOOOOO!!"

Yamino ran as fast as she could, trying to intercept the kunai, to get in its way before it could hit Sazashi. And as she moved, just as she thought it was hopeless and she wouldn't be able to protect him, wondrously the blade seemed to slow down. Time seemed to freeze and what had been an invisible blur slowly became clear to her burning eyes.

The daughter of the Uchiha clan threw herself in front of the kunai, which slashed straight through her arm but to Yamino's horror kept on moving. It was just inches from dealing a lethal blow to Sazashi, who was held fast by the invisible chakra strings.

Except they weren't invisible anymore, Yamino noticed in amazement. She could see them as if they were as clear as day. And she saw as well how at the last possible moment chakra pulsed from Sazashi's opening points and severed the strings, letting him knock away the kunai with the Gentle Fist just as he had the sand shurikens.

"Your jutsu won't work on me twice!" He exclaimed.

Len chose this time to strike at the sand imprisoning his friend's feet, and with his superhuman strength devastated Jinsei's snare. Sazashi jumped free and then stood in the traditional open-palmed stance of the Hyuuga's taijutsu style - the Gentle Fist.

Meanwhile, despite her wound, Yamino felt new strength, and turned to face Mai, whose eyes grew wide. "Those eyes..!"

Uchiha Yamino had finally activated her blood limit – the Sharingan, and two commas whirled around her now-red orbs. She charged Mai, and even though her speed hadn't changed at all, somehow none of Mai's moves worked. When Mai tried to punch, Yamino had already seen it. When Mai threw a shuriken, Yamino wasn't anywhere near it. When Mai did anything, Yamino had the perfect counter.

Len was doing battle with Jinsei, moving like a green whirlwind. Jinsei was keeping up admirably, though his taijutsu was nowhere near as good as his adversary. Their fathers had fought decades ago, but that battle had been very different in many ways. For one, Jinsei did not have the automatic sand shield that had protected Gaara all his life. For another, Len could use basic ninjutsu, tricking Jinsei with Bunshin and using the Kawarimi to avoid critical blows.

Another difference was that Rock Lee had pushed Gaara right to his limits. Rock Len was not so lucky – he could not unleash his full power in their narrow confines. He'd had no chance since the moment the fight began. He fought hard and did some damage.

It was no surprise when he fell.

Nor was it a surprise that Mai could do nothing to the awakened Uchiha girl.

With Mai and Len both unconscious the only fight still going on was between Ebirou and Sazashi. With the Byakugan Sazashi could see in every direction and avoid almost any attack, but at the same time with his Human Puppet jutsu Ebirou could take control of any part of the younger boy's body, if only for a moment. In addition, the masked Genin seemed to be able attack with blades and rocks from any direction at once – with ten different strings at any time he could fight with anything he could see. No matter if Sazashi cut one thread with his own projected chakra, another would simply take its place.

Both of their combat styles used a low but steady amount of power. The longer they fought the more exhausted they became, and neither seemed to be able to take the advantage. Ebirou would never get within range of Sazashi's taijutsu strikes, his only real weapon.

Jinsei broke the silence between them. "Look, stop okay? It's pretty obvious that we could just keep fighting until we all die, or we could declare a truce. We leave each other alone and go after some other teams. You guys have fought the best of the Sand to a standstill – if you go after one of the other teams you'll be guaranteed a win."

Yamino responded, her new Sharingan eyes still active. "How do we know you won't just double-cross us?"

Jinsei reached inside his long black coat and pulled out an Earth scroll. "What type have you got?"

Sazashi reluctantly brought out their scroll – also bearing the symbol for Earth.

"See! No need to fight anyway." Jinsei winked at Yamino. "See you at the next test."

As Rock Lee's son was picked up and revived, his Genin team had reached the shrine and begun setting their trap. All they had left to do was wait.

The sky was tinged slightly red as Yume, Sakumo and Jo finally reached the shrine. They'd taken the last half of the test slowly – no need to rush ahead when they already had a scroll. Using Yume's Byakugan it had been easy to evade the other teams, but it had been a slow and arduous process.

Yume had voted for just taking the shortest route to the shrine at top speed. The two boys had vetoed, sensibly.

Iruka spotted his sister coming when she exited a hole close to the shrine itself. He had been waiting for a suitable target, but attacking his own sister was not an option for him. He might want to do better than her, but not badly enough to let her walk into his own trap.

Jinsei cursed as the cave walls began to shudder and shake. He shouted for his team, and the three of them ran as fast as they could, trying desperately to outrace the cave-in.

They'd been fighting a team of Genin from the Hidden Stone, and as the name implied they'd possessed Doton jutsus allowing them to affect the very rock that made up the Sea of Stone's waves. But these were no seasoned Jounins; they were Genin – young and unskilled. One misplaced jutsu nearly killed all six of them, and all they succeeded in was trapping themselves deep inside the stone.

Worst of all, Jinsei's team thought, they didn't even get the scroll first. Now they had to find a team all over again. Mai touched her hands to the ground again and searched through the vibratory patterns for their next target.

Meanwhile Yamino had learned how to switch her new bloodline power on and off. She'd wasted a lot of chakra in the process, though, and needed to rest. That was just fine with the rest of her team, though Sazashi made a show of grumbling. All three of them had used a lot of their chakra, and all three were wounded. Yamino had bandaged her arm and there was no real damage, but she'd still lost a fair amount of blood; Len was still somewhat woozy from his defeat at the hands of Jinsei; and Sazashi was bruised from the sand shuriken and drained from his fight with Ebirou.

It was concluded that they needed to find somewhere to rest for the night. Sazashi picked out an out of the way niche and the group set up camp.

The second set of Genin to make it to the shrine with a set of scrolls was a local team – three Sand-nins. They were weary and injured, or in other words the perfect targets.

Kazeko's plan was nothing special. The Leaf trio had set some obvious traps which were really decoys designed to get any other nins into the right position. Iruka, Kazeko and Choumaru were hiding in the strange shadows cast by the ornate decorations of the temple, and Iruka was using his Byakugan to keep watch. By combining her own shadow with others, Kazeko could extend the range of her jutsu, which meant the second that Iruka signalled to tell his girlfriend that a team was in the right position, Kazeko captured them with the Nara family's specialty jutsu – the Shadow Copy.

With the three Sand-nins caught frozen, Choumaru used his own family's jutsus to transform into a giant, rolling ball and knock them down like pins. It wasn't a strategy they could have safely used inside the small and narrow caves, but in the relatively wider pass the Meat Tank was just perfect.

Finally Iruka created three Kage Bunshins to search the apparently unconscious shinobi, just in case they were faking or had some other surprise in store. The clones passed the two newly acquired scrolls to the original Iruka, who grinned and lead his friends into the shrine at last. They didn't even need the scroll Choumaru had been holding safe.

"Do you really want to try your luck?" Jinsei asked, smiling warmly. Tiny hearts flew out of the eyes of the girl, who sighed and shook her head. The Sand kunoichi and her friends had been unlucky enough to meet up with the team of the Kazekage's son, and they knew full well they were outclassed.

But the girl didn't mind, because she got to spend even a little time with her idol, who'd actually smiled at her At her! She sighed, lost in a dream world.

Fangirls could be useful sometimes, Jinsei reflected as she handed over a Heaven scroll, and jacket fluttering he and his team moved on.

Once the night passed, Team Kiba set back in motion. They felt a lot better from the sleep, and after Yamino changed her bandage they got moving. A search with Sazashi's blood limit revealed that no other teams were within range.

This news spurred the group into action, fully waking them from the dreaming lethargy of their night. They ran through the tunnels fast with Sazashi guiding them as before, though this time without a destination in mind. He reasoned that it was better to head towards the shrine, so they moved as close to that general direction as possible.

After some time the genius ninja managed to strain the limits of his power to find another team, and this time their ambush went off without a hitch.

Len moved fast as lightning and took out the leader of the other ninjas in a single well-placed kick. The dark-haired teenager sprawled forward, knocked cold, but his teammates now had the chance to return fire.

"Go Kimaru!"

A small dog jumped from the head of his master towards Len, who was somewhat surprised to note that he recognized this set of Genin – they were from the Leaf too.

The dog stood its distance and barked at Len, but instead of attacking directly, from its mouth came a swarm of bugs, which flew at the green spandex wearing ninja and began to feed on his chakra.

Yamino and Sazashi followed Len into the fight, though Yamino faltered in shock when she saw whom they were up against. "Is that Kaga?"

Sazashi cried out an order. "Len, full sprint!"

His friend obeyed instantly, moving at superhuman speeds. He moved too fast for the bugs to stay on him, and Yamino took the opportunity to perform a Katon, roasting the tiny insects en masse.

Aburame Tsuto and his animal familiar cried out in sympathetic pain. "No!" But his grief was cut short when Sazashi delivered a precise blow, knocking the older Genin unaware.

That left just one opposing Leaf-nin, but she was no match for Yamino and her Sharingan's predictive powers, and she knew that – having Uchiha Kaga as a teammate had taught her all she needed to know that she was no match for a Sharingan user. So the Leaf kunoichi gave up in favour of looking after her friends.

Sazashi took the Heaven scroll from the unconscious form of Yamino's brother to complete his set.

An hour or two later, on the second day of the second test, the final team of the Rookie Nine passed, joining their friends and new acquaintances in Jinsei, Mai and Ebirou, as well as one other team of Sand-nins.

For a whole day they rested – after having their wounds treated professionally by Sand medic-nins – until the time the second test was scheduled to finish. Just as the clock was about the signal that the test was over, through the heavy doors of the shrine burst in sunlight and the outlines of three figures.

They were older than the children of the Rookie Nine, with two of the team being at least fifteen, and the other looking like she was thirteen or so. The two fifteen year olds were identical in just about every way, though they wore their Mist forehead protectors in different places. On their backs they both carried long, strange looking swords. The younger girl wore a truly expressionless face and stood shrouded in a blue cloak.

"Sorry, sorry," one of the twins said goofily. "We're still in time, right?"

**Author's Note: Now this one isn't all that original, but then the fun is more in what happens and not why. Kabuto mentioned in the actual Chuunin Exam that he'd needed to gather scrolls before, so it's not like there isn't precedent in the canon. And besides, it's not like the first test where there's a hidden trick that will only be effective once.**

**Well, you got a better look at some of the important characters to show up, and there was plenty of action. I hope everything was acceptable. **

**Sorry for the long wait as well, but this was a pretty long chapter (for me anyway). The next one should be up soon, but it won't be a continuation of this one but a short interlude instead.**

**Thanks to everyone who is still reading this story, and please review if you want to make me happy!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Four: One Day**

It seemed like an ordinary day for the young Kazekage.

By the time that everyone else in the village was waking up, Gaara of the Desert had almost done the paperwork for the day. And with that over and done with, the day was pretty much his to do with as he wished.

Gaara was considered by many to be cold and unemotional. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Gaara thought of himself as remarkably lively and fun loving!

He just had slightly different definitions of fun and lively.

After finishing the paperwork Gaara went for his morning walk around the village. Although it wasn't really a walk as such since the only way it involved his legs was that they stood on a floating platform of sand.

The redheaded teen swooped and soared around the Hidden Sand at a breakneck pace, savouring the ever-familiar sights and sounds of his beloved home from high above. Villagers going about their early morning routines waved, and parents pointed their children's gazes towards the flying Kazekage.

At eighteen years old Gaara had been a protector now for a full third of his life. The twelve years before were something that the now-Kazekage didn't like to think about, but something that was on his mind constantly. When you're the only person awake in a whole village, your mind wanders easily. If that's true all night, every night, then you just can't help it.

But a third was significant. Soon he would have been a good person for a half of his life, then two thirds, and so on until the twelve years of fear and hatred and death were just an irrelevant prologue to Gaara's life story. There were already children born and living in the Sand village who had no idea what Gaara had been like six years ago.

Gaara liked that, he did. Those children would grow up thinking of him as a kind and generous man who would give anything to keep them safe and happy. That was something that Gaara didn't have a problem with his mind wandering to.

One day there wouldn't be anyone alive who could remember those dark times.

Gaara stopped off for a morning meal at a nearby ramen stand.

In all honesty, Gaara didn't really care for ramen, but Gaara had based his life on that of Uzumaki Naruto, and once he'd learned of the fox boy's obsession with ramen, Gaara had determined to eat some every day. Perhaps it was a key element in Naruto's positive attitude. Gaara wasn't going to risk missing out on something that important!

Speaking of Uzumaki Naruto, the other boy had recently achieved his own dream and become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Gaara thought that it was ironic that on the way of achieving his dream to become like Naruto he had beaten the blonde to his own dream. Naruto didn't think that it was ironic. He thought that it was annoying! Oh, so so annoying. Gaara would laugh, except Gaara didn't laugh. Ever.

Gaara did smile occasionally, but he didn't make a habit of it. People might get the wrong impression and expect him to do it again. And Gaara did not like giving people the wrong impression, like all those years when he'd been a vicious, bloodthirsty psychotic. Some people might take the impression from that time that Gaara was not a nice person, and of course they'd be wrong! So that was why Gaara didn't smile very often. That and the wrinkling – Gaara's smooth skin was his treasure.

In fact his beautiful skin was one of the many reasons why Gaara was popular with the ladies. He'd had several girlfriends in recent years, and more admirers. Girlfriends could be so inconsiderate. Always asking Gaara to stay with them in bed. Why would he do that? Gaara slept a few hours here and there, but other than that why would he want to stay in a bed? Beds were for sleeping in. If Gaara wasn't going to sleep, what use was a bed? Why couldn't they understand?

So inconsiderate. Gaara worked long and hard to protect the Sand village, so the least people could do was respect Gaara's right to not be trapped in a bed for hours on end. Especially when he could be making much better use of that time doing some work. Gaara was in the habit of doing as much paperwork as possible over night, leaving the days free for more entertaining prospects.

Speaking of which, that morning Gaara had finished up his breakfast ramen – which had been a particularly unpalatable bowl, but Gaara was willing to make the sacrifice – and gone to hand out the day's missions.

At the Suna Administration Building, Gaara flew in onto an open balcony and hopped off his sand platform. Taking the stairs down to the front room, Gaara passed a few aides who knew better than to try and make small talk. It wasn't that Gaara didn't like talking to people; it was more that he didn't really… get… small talk. Talking solely for a social purpose? Gaara thought that was pretty strange. But Gaara didn't judge.

Gaara sat down at his desk and waited for the various ninjas to arrive. Each ninja and team who were getting missions that day would come, be handed a slip of paper or folder, depending on how complex the mission was, and then leave to do their work. It was a good system, mostly because it didn't require Gaara to really talk to anyone. People would come, be respectful then take their assignments and leave. The only people who ever needed to talk to Gaara were the ones who questioned his decisions (very rare) or the ones who thought he was outright wrong (even rarer).

With the exception of any on-the-spot requests made, of course, but they simply stated their needs and Gaara would make a decision. In fact those people were even less likely to question Gaara, since any complaints might make him less obliging.

Of course Gaara always handled everyone fairly, but others didn't necessarily realise that of Gaara. So many people got the wrong impression. That was something Gaara would need to work on.

When the missions were done, Gaara leapt up from his chair at a dignified rate. He didn't look any different, but Gaara was excited. It was time to go see his brother!

Kankurou was one of the Sand village's top Jounin, and at the age of twenty-two had just become a husband as well. Technically Kankurou was the head of the family under Hidden Sand law, and the various accounts and the deed to the family estate were in his name, but with Gaara being the head of the whole village, things could get a little confused at times. Especially since their father had been the previous Kazekage – what officially belonged to Gaara as the Kage and what was Kankurou's inheritance could get jumbled up rather terribly. But Gaara didn't really care. Gaara just wanted everyone to be happy and safe.

Gaara knocked on the door to the family mansion. Then knocked again. After a while it opened, and a bleary-eyed Kankurou faced his brother. He hadn't put on his makeup yet. His hair was a mess (although to be fair it was always a mess under that hood, though he made damn sure that no one knew). And he was half naked.

"Gaara… I've got the day off. You knew that, right? Right?"

Gaara knew that.

"Kankurou, I knew that."

"So if you knew that, why are you here?"

"I thought we could spend the day together."

Gaara thought this was a wonderful idea. There was nothing he wanted to do more than spend time with his family.

"Gaara, I wanted to have some time with Sora on my day off. Alone. Sorry."

This was no real setback. Gaara could find other things to do. Surely in the whole wide village Gaara would be able to find something to fill his time.

The cloud of sand whisked the tanuki teen away once more, this time taking Gaara to the centre of town and the Sand's ninja academy. Gaara always enjoyed watching over the children of his village and seeing them grow was one of Gaara's truest joys in life.

No one made an effort to stop Gaara from entering the building, of course, since he was after all the Kazekage. He stopped by the first classroom he came to and stood solidly at the back like a marble pillar. The teacher, a bespectacled Sand Chuunin, acted flustered by the sudden attention from Gaara, but he managed to keep going commendably well.

"Children, our very own Kazekage is invigilating the lesson today, so I want you all to be your most respectful for Gaara-sama."

There were plenty of free seats, but Gaara stayed standing. He was a very linear person.

Gaara almost felt like smiling as he watched the youth of Suna passionately walk forward with their lives. But he didn't. They were like gusts of wind in the air, flitting from one fancy to another capriciously. But they were also like a cool breeze that soothed your soul. It was very comforting to Gaara, and he needed as much to soothe his soul as possible.

Eventually the class finished and Gaara walked out, followed a reverential distance behind by a horde of screaming children on their way to have lunch and make merry. Gaara almost envied the children their innocence, something he had lost far too young. But Gaara was Kazekage now, and that was just as good as innocence. Sometimes better.

As much as Gaara would have liked to stay and watch the children some more, he really had to go to a meeting. Most of the meetings were really very boring, but Gaara endured them. If there was one thing Gaara was good at it was sitting still and conserving energy – something any forced insomniac needed to learn how to do – so meetings were useful in a way.

This meeting, back in the Suna Administration Building, was just as boring as ever. In fact Gaara had calculated that it was around six percent more boring than the average. That was another skill Gaara could thank his almost constant consciousness for. Gaara could coolly and calmly (although in all fairness that was how Gaara did everything) sift through his memories of all the past and compare any situation to another.

Gaara would much have preferred to be off fighting or on an exciting mission, though it didn't show, but he had been accustomed to this life for years now. And Gaara knew full well just how important the minor details, like whether someone was breathing or not, or if their head was technically still attached to their body or not, could be. Minor details like that were what made the world go round. That and physics. Gaara liked physics.

With the meeting over, Gaara decided it was time he had some more food. He eschewed the possibility of more ramen since Gaara had already fulfilled that requirement for the day, so instead Gaara went home and fixed himself a nice healthy salad.

With his belly adequately filled, Gaara pondered on what to do for the rest of the day. Soon the mission requests would be filed and he would have to get to work, but there was still a good few hours left.

Gaara's pondering pose was very specific. That is, specifically it was just like all his other poses. Gaara wasn't much of one for changing habits.

Gaara pondered for a good and long time, but could find nothing else to do for the day. He was currently sans girlfriend, since his last one had proven slightly too needy for the young Kazekage. Kankurou was busy. Temari was visiting the Leaf… aha! Gaara could take a trip to Konoha! It had been a while since he had seen Uzumaki Naruto, and that was always fun. Even if Gaara didn't show it.

Oh, but no… Gaara would have work to do. Gaara was far too responsible to just up and run off to another country for a few days without at least telling someone. Damn responsibilities.

Oh well, tomorrow was another day.

**Author's Note: This was a nice interlude between the Chuunin Exam chapters for me in some ways. Writing a just about pure humour chapter was fun.**

**It might seem a little dull, but unfortunately some stuff has been happening that really doesn't make me feel like writing or really doing anything at all. The people and management of a certain forum have horribly abused a friend of mine, and the whole process has been very depressing. **

**I hope to continue this fic soon, but right this second I don't feel like it.**

**I apologise for the apparently confusing nature of the last chapter. I didn't think it was, but a lot of people have criticized it in that regard. It's half my fault and half 's fault, because the site doesn't like the method I use to separate sections, and I think their alternative is pretty ugly. I guess I need to experiment and find another solution.**

**Most of the reviews were about that so I haven't answered them individually.**

**Later.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Five: Earth Over Heaven**

_Last chapter, eighteen Genin passed the second test of the Chuunin Exam (known parents in brackets):_

_Uzumaki Yume (Naruto + Hinata), Yuuhi Sakumo (Kurenai), Nanaka Jo._

_Uzumaki Iruka, Nara Kazeko (Shikamaru + Temari), Aikimichi Choumaru (Chouji)._

_Hyuuga Sazashi (Sakura + Neji), Uchiha Yamino (Sasuke + Ino), Rock Len (Lee + Tenten)._

_Jinsei of the Desert (Gaara), Ebirou (Kankurou),Okuta Mai._

_Another team of Sand-nins._

_Finally, a team of Mist-nins, including two twins who both wield strange looking swords._

The Jounin looked to his left and then his right, nodded once, and barked out a command.

"Begin."

The two girls' eyes locked with each other.

"I don't like you, you know that?" Mai, kunoichi of the Sand, said quietly to her opponent.

"I don't even know who you are," replied Nara Kazeko calmly, the girl who had both the Sand and the Leaf in her heritage.

Mai's eyes compacted into a tight gaze of burning iron. "And that is my problem." She took the first move in their battle, grabbing a kunai and tossing hard at Kazeko's legs. The kimono wearing Leaf-nin dodged it with a light leap into the air, and for her it was good because the kunai bit sharply into the stone of the arena floor.

Mai sneered. The blonde kunoichi was wearing… well, she was wearing very little. Her brown Sand-nin uniform only covered her body, with both her arms and legs almost entirely bare. She wasn't even wearing shoes. She breathed in and out with a careful rhythm.

Kazeko was not so placid. She almost ripped the giant fan from its holder on her back and unleashed a giant blast of air, yelling "KAMAIITACHI!"

In the wake of this attack, Mai was left lying face down on the floor of the ring. Her long hair, which before had been meticulously well groomed had been blown wild by the gust. Her palms touched down, pressing against the hard stone.

The Jounin judging the fight moved forward as if about to end the match, but Mai sprang back to her feet.

Suddenly Kazeko didn't feel so confident. She didn't feel anything good. She felt pretty sick, actually. Her insides were rolling around, and she felt as if she were bobbing up and down on the waves of the sea. Through the discomfort Kazeko felt a rhythm to her internal heaving, like a steady beat. Tap. Tap. Tap. She felt it.

And as she fell to her knees Kazeko saw Mai's bare foot tapping the ground. Tap. Tap Tap. The same rhythm as her body.

"The winner, Okuta Mai!"

Mai turned and walked back up to the stands where everyone else had been watching the fight, but she had one final bitter "Bitch," for her fallen enemy, who in a flash was picked up and carried off by her boyfriend.

The preliminaries for the Finals of the Chuunin Exam had begun.

A screen flashed up with the names of the next two fighters.

Aikimichi Choumaru. Kama Rina.

A short girl wearing the brown of a Sand-nin jumped energetically into the ring. Choumaru turned to his friends in nervous panic. "I don't know about this… I can still give up, right?" Iruka laughed and gave his rotund comrade a powerful whack on his back. "Get in there and show these losers what you've got! Yeah!"

Kazeko groaned her agreement and encouragement, still feeling the effects of whatever Mai had done to her.

Choumaru gingerly stepped onto the square battle ring as his opponent bounced up on her toes in excitement. The black-clad Jounin said loudly "Begin," then stepped backwards.

Choumaru looked from side to side, sweating terribly. He didn't really want to fight anyone under normal circumstances, but he'd just minutes ago watched one of his two best friends be defeated, and he still had no idea how! He didn't want to get hurt, and he didn't want to hurt this Rina girl. There was no good way out of this for Choumaru, he decided.

Rina bounced towards the Leaf boy and, looking as if she were about to take a dive, stretched out her hands perpendicular to her torso. With one final bounce, she turned in the air and from behind her came a gust of wind. Her baggy clothes became a crude sail, and she was propelled forward at an incredible rate.

The head of the girl impacted with Choumaru's body in a blow that might have killed a normal man. But Choumaru had used his family's special ninjutsu, the Multi Size, to expand vastly. With his increased bulk the Human Missile attack was only painful and not fatal, and Rina rebounded off his now-huge stomach onto the arena floor.

Choumaru chose that moment to use his family taijutsu style, the Meat Tank. He rolled in a ball towards the small girl, who screamed, "I give up! I give up!"

The Leaf-nin resumed his normal form and smiled through the sweat on his face

"Winner, Aikimichi Choumaru"

Through pointed teeth one of the Jounin-senseis lining the walls with his team smiled as the next two names came up on the screen.

Hoshigaki Ban and Kama Saru.

A large Sand-nin hopped down into the ring with a thud that resounded throughout the entire building. Choumaru had thought he was big, but he had nothing on this guy. Not that he was particularly fat; it was more just that Kama Saru was huge. And it wasn't just size – everyone could feel that he was strong too.

In contrast Hoshigaki Dan was – well, he was taller than most of the Genin present, but he was also rather slender, just like the long sword he carried on his back. Dan had light green hair that spiked up from his head, and wore a blue cloak around his body. A Mist forehead protector was worn wrapped round his throat like a collar.

Ari, the Jounin supervising the preliminaries, nodded to both of the Genin and said just "Begin."

The enormous Saru's lips curved in a smile that on anyone else might have looked sweet. Given how Saru dwarfed his opponent, however, it seemed more sadistic than anything else.

There was a flare of chakra that everyone could sense. Those who hadn't been paying attention abruptly found their eyes fixed on the ring. But those who hadn't been watching from the beginning missed the single second of action.

Dan turned his back to Saru, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Saru didn't move at all. Not until, that is, he fell backwards, and blood erupted diagonally from his torso. When he hit the ground he was already dead.

"Winner, Hoshigaki Dan!" The smirking Jounin said clearly.

Most of the other people in the room weren't smirking. Most of them were agape in surprise, awe and some disgust. Only a handful of the Genin had even seen what had happened, and only one of the Jounin had expected a mere Genin of that level to appear. That sensei's surname was Hoshigaki too, and he'd been training his nephews for almost their entire lives. It was no surprise to him to see one of them dominate a normal Genin with such ease.

The corpse of Saru was carried off on a stretcher, and above the ring his siblings grieved silently, trusting in their emotional control to carry them through the rest of the Exam.

The next two contenders stepped into the ring and Ari announced the beginning of their fight.

Yuuhi Sakumo stood with a relaxed bearing, his hands in his pockets. As if to symbolize his opposition, Hyuuga Sazashi couldn't possibly have looked any different. The white-eyed Genin had his arms up in the Hyuuga clan's ancient taijutsu stance. Veins bulged around his eyes, carrying chakra to power his bloodline.

"Stand down, Yuuhi. I don't want to hurt you," Sazashi said smugly.

Sakumo smiled.

"Maybe I should be the one saying that, mm?"

Sazashi narrowed his Byakugan eyes. He could see the other Leaf-nin's internal organs and inner coils. He could see the flow of chakra in his body and the opening points from which he could project the energy. Already he knew exactly what he'd have to do to end the fight before it even began.

He charged forward, chakra gathered to his hands. Just one touch would end it.

Instead of Sakumo's chest, though, Sazashi's palm slammed into metal. Sakumo had blocked with the armour he wore on his lower arm.

"Not going to make it that easy for you."

With his other hand now, Sazashi tried again, but again the other boy blocked, now with the guard on his other arm.

Sazashi put his weight behind his hands and pushed at Sakumo, trying to knock him off balance, but his effort was in vain. For every gram of pressure the Hyuuga put into it an equal amount met him in response. Equal and more, as a surge of strength from Sakumo forced Sazashi backwards. The dark haired boy tottered on his feet trying to regain his footing, but an unexpected punch from Sakumo knocked him down. A kunai jutting into his shoulder kept him there.

"Get up." Sakumo looked at the fallen form of Sazashi in disgust. "You're going to give me a good fight, Sazashi, unless you want to bring shame to your name."

Sazashi staggered to his feet, blood trickling from the wound in his shoulder. He spat reddened saliva at the ground. "You want a fight, you got one. No genius is going to lose to someone as average as you."

With a surprising speed that belied his injuries, the Hyuuga dashed at Sakumo. His Gentle Fist strikes came quickly and sharply, but Sakumo was blocking and deflecting the chakra projections with just as much speed and skill.

"I've been sparring with Yume for months now, Sazashi, and she's just as good as you."

"Liar!" Sazashi panted with the beginning stages of exhaustion. They'd been fighting for over five minutes, and both of them were feeling it.

As Sazashi edged back to make a little breathing room between the two, Sakumo took this opportunity to take his tanto out. With the increase in range, the height difference between Sakumo and Sazashi was magnified, and Sazashi was put on the defensive.

One thrust came a little too close for the dark-haired boy's liking, and to save himself he used both his hands to grab the flat edges of the blade. But then with his Byakugan the Leaf-nin could see chakra flowing into the sword, and suddenly his hands felt as if they were on fire.

The next thing he knew, Sakumo stood behind him, one arm restraining his body, the other holding the sword to his throat. "Give up?" he asked. Sazashi struggled, but his only reward was to feel the edge of the sword nick his skin. "Fine, I give up."

"Winner – Yuuhi Sakumo!"

Sakumo and Sazashi walked back up to where their teammates stood watching. Sakumo got an excited hug of congratulation from Yume, though he sputtered objections the whole way through. After watching his fight, Yume was all fired up and roaring to go. "Come on come on come on! Uzumaki Yume, Uzumaki Yume….!"

Instead of Yume, though, the screen flashed up the name of the third member of their team – Nanaka Jo, and his opponent was another Sand-nin from the same Kama family as the other two. This one wasn't as small as his sister or as big as his brother but somewhere in the middle. He was still taller than the younger Jo, but not by very much.

The second Ari started the fight; Jo threw off the large robes he wore over his clothes. He threw it in the direction of his opponent, whose name he'd learned was Nekabu, and the Sand-nin was caught off guard by its surprising bulk.

Clawing free, a confusing sight greeted Nekabu – he couldn't quite focus on Jo, for some reason. He would try and look at him, but his eyes would water and the image would blur. Without a viable target he couldn't use the Kama family Human Missile taijutsu style, and Nekabu was smart enough to have realised that there was a reason why his eyes refused to focus properly.

He decided to close in. Surely he'd be able to find the Leaf boy with his fists if nothing else. He got out two kunai and held them tight, thrusting and slashing the air with them.

Jo seemed to dodge around the attacks as if they were the last things on his mind. Just as his movements were distorted by his genjutsu, his true efforts were as well. Dodging random attacks was no easier for him than it was anyone, and to him it didn't even come as a surprise when he looked down and saw one of Nekabu's kunai plunged into his flesh. He gave a gasp of pain, and Nekabu smiled as he drew back his hand and saw the blood.

Jo felt the blood seeping out of him and knew he'd have to end the fight soon. With everything he had, the masked boy channelled as much chakra into his body as he could at once, and punched the Sand-nin. As he did, everyone in the room felt an amount of chakra in the boy that seemed too great for his small frame, and felt a pressure from him they'd never explained.

There was so much force in that one hit that Nekabu was sent flying back with the recoil, and he landed cold on the far side of the ring.

"Ugh," Jo said monosyllabically. He struggled to keep on his feet, but his chakra was almost completely drained, and he collapsed.

The Jounin Examiner looked at both of the fighters and then declared a result. "Tie. Nanaka Jo and Kama Nekabu do not advance."

"Jo!" Yume jumped down from the stand and swiftly made her way to her friend's side. "Jo, speak to me!"

He groaned. "Yume..? I'm okay…"

"Oh thank god."

The blonde Leaf kunoichi lifted her friend to his feet, but then he pushed her away. "I can stand." Wobbling a little, Jo picked up his robe and put it back on. "I'll be okay, it was just a shallow cut, but I'm just going to go and sit down and rest. Good luck Yume."

"Luck?"

"Mmm." Jo pointed weakly at the screen. Yume's name was clearly displayed, along with that of another Mist-nin – a girl named Rika.

"Wooo! It's my turn! Finally, yes!" Yume danced frenetically with joy.

Jo walked away and out into a corridor, where he slumped down against the wall. Reaching inside his robes, he touched his wound softly with his hand. What he brought back out was dripping red.

Back in the arena, Yume grinned her foxy grin as Ari announced the beginning of the fight. Just like her cousin Sazashi before, she had the veins around her eyes that signified her Byakugan blood limit had been activated. Unlike him, she found for once in her life it wasn't very useful.

"Hey, what's up with that?" Yume should have been able to see the Mist kunoichi's body through her clothes, and see inside to her organs. Instead, all Yume saw was mist rising up from the cloak Rika wore.

For a moment Yume was confused as what to do, since her Gentle Fist was useless, but only for a moment. Without thinking twice she leapt into action with a good old-fashioned normal punch. It was blocked, though, by an arm made of solid mist.

"What the..?"

More mist rose from the cloak and solidified, and another limb pushed Yume back with an unexpected strength.

Yume didn't let this discourage her. She was an Uzumaki! She ran straight back at her opponent, who still had not said a word or even moved her own body.

The blonde girl grinned though, because she knew what to do. With her hands crossed in a seal, she created a dozen Kage Bunshin duplicates of herself. Yume pointed a finger dramatically and shouted, "Go!"

The clones spread out and made a loose ring around Rika, except for two who stayed next to the original and hoisted her into the air, where Yume's hands whirled in a short series of seals. Three balls of fire formed in a line across her body and flew towards the Mist-nin, hitting the girl from three directions at once.

The heat cleared away a lot of the mist, and before it could reform the Kage Bunshins charged. Four of them kicked at Rika, but her mist shield managed to block, if only barely. Luckily for Yume, another four of her clones followed up with four more kicks, which connected and propelled Rika into the air where she met the fists of the final four Yume clones.

A second later Rika fell to the ground. Yume had won, and she knew it.

"Yes! I win!" She ran around the ring with her hands in the air. "I'm the best!"

Above the ring, Iruka frowned. He wanted his own match! It was so unfair, everyone on his team apart from him had fought, and everyone on Yume's team had fought. So, so unfair.

But no, the screen couldn't just flash up with his name, could it? It had to come up with two whole names that weren't his. Stupid screen.

As one name appeared, everyone in the arena and the stands heard two passionate shouts, much to their dismay. The noise came from both generations of the Rock family, who were overjoyed to see Len get his chance at a fight.

"Yes! Show them the power of your hard work my beautiful son!"

"Father!"

"Len!"

"Oooooooooooh! Yes!"

Rock Len and Rock Lee hugged with tears flowing freely down both of their faces, and when the pulled away from each other Len jumped straight down into the ring.

His opponent was Ebirou, fourteen-year-old son of the Sand Jounin Kankurou and nephew of the Kazekage. They hadn't fought before, but their teams had, and they'd both seen what the other had. It wasn't going to be tricks that decided this fight.

The Examiner Ari motioned to Len and Ebirou, and gruffly barked the word "Begin," before stepping back from the two Genin.

The air around Len blurred and the green spandex wearing Leaf-nin disappeared from sight. In a flash he was behind Ebirou, kicking the Sand Genin across the ring. As Ebirou picked himself back up to his feet he had an impressed air.

"You're faster than before," he said.

"I'm not wearing my weights anymore," Len replied with a smile. "I'm not going to lose."

"Funny, that was my--" Ebirou's comeback was interrupted by the lightning-fast blow to his solar plexus. As Len's fist pulled back, the Sand-nin dropped to his knees. He didn't get time to recover, as Len flipped onto his hands and delivered another devastating kick.

"Winner – Rock Len!"

Now there were just four Genin left. Uzumaki Iruka, Uchiha Yamino, Jinsei of the Desert and the second of the Mist twins.

Iruka grinned when he saw his name appear, and then changed his expression to a sly smile when he saw the name of his opponent. Now this was a fight he could enjoy.

The blonde girl was already standing in the ring when Iruka hopped down to join her. Yamino and Iruka had known each other for a long time, but they'd never actually fought. Before now.

Prior to the start of the fight, Yamino and Iruka exchanged greetings. "Hey, another chance for the Uzumaki clan to prove their superiority."

"What are you - nuts?! Everyone knows the Uchiha clan is the greatest clan in Konoha!"

"Well the Uzumakis are the greatest clan in the world. And besides, you Uchiha are nothing without your fancy shmancy eyes!"

"You mean like these?" Yamino asked, as she activated her new Sharingan. "Face it Iruka-chan, you're going down."

"You're not the only one with a blood limit." Chakra flowed into Iruka's eyes and his Byakugan activated in kind.

The Jounin nodded and started the fight. Immediately Iruka split into five clones while Yamino looked on in bemusement.

The four Kage Bunshins surrounded Yamino and came in to kick her, but she back flipped over and away from them, then performed a quick Katon jutsu to destroy them.

Not being put off, Iruka created more Kage Bunshins and this time had them try and punch her one-by-one, but Yamino avoided all their strikes easily, and in a flurry of movement turned them back into puffs of smoke.

His face showed that Iruka was getting a bit pissed off with this now, so he gathered a large amount of chakra and when the smoke cleared Yamino could see he'd created more than twice as many Kage Bunshins as before. This time they screamed and ran at the blonde Uchiha, but she wasn't fazed. She simply moved to attack each one and destroy it… except her fist passed straight through the first one and she fell forward.

"I'm more than just brute force, don't you know?"

Iruka capitalised on this moment just as he'd planned, and the five regular Bunshin he'd created faded away leaving the five solid clones and Iruka himself, who together began to disable Yamino with carefully placed Gentle Fist attacks.

Yamino recovered, and despite her injuries broke free with another Katon. Iruka came out slightly singed while his clones had disappeared. Yamino thought fast, trying to find some way to come back from her bad position. She came to an idea, and crossed her fingers in a seal.

"How about I even the odds?"

Iruka's face changed instantly from smug confidence to shocked concern. His warning was too late, because Yamino funnelled her remaining chakra into the jutsu and brought forth a cloud of ninja smoke and… a single Kage Bunshin.

Yamino's face paled and she teetered on her feet. The strain of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was immense, she discovered. How did Iruka and Yume do it?

In exhaustion the Uchiha girl fell backwards, no longer having the energy to stay on her feet. Iruka practically moved at super speed to catch her, but she had fallen unconscious. He was declared the winner of the fight, and Yamino was carried off to the infirmary.

Kazeko and Choumaru congratulated Iruka on his win. Kazeko had recovered from whatever it had been that Mai had done to her in their fight, and she only felt a little queasy now. But she wasn't particularly enamoured with the way in which her boyfriend had just embraced another girl. Still, it's not like she was jealous, right?

Yume and Iruka exchanged one of their many glances. It was like their own private language – a few seconds of eye contact that could have meant anything to someone else. To them, it meant both "Congratulations" and "I'll kick your ass." They were looking forward to the Finals now, oh yes.

There were only two Genin left who hadn't fought yet. That meant that there was no real need to flash their names up on the screen. Still, the two names did appear.

Jinsei. Hoshigaki Ban.

In a whirl of sand Jinsei used the Shunshin to teleport down to the arena, while Ban hopped down and landed lightly on his feet.

Ari said curtly "Begin," and they did.

Ban tried for a repeat of his brother's performance. Faster than almost anyone knew, the long sword of his was in his hands and flying towards Jinsei. But instead of cleaving the Sand-nin's red-haired head from his shoulders the blade clattered down to the arena floor. In the air a blockade of sand had been partially sliced into. The son of the Kazekage wasn't going to lose so quickly.

The Mist-nin frowned and formed a strange seal. One hand was in a standard position, but Ban's right hand crossed his left with an open palm. The sword returned to that open hand, and Ban gripped the hilt. He brought the blade up with both his hands and dashed at the younger boy.

Sand again rose to block Ban's strike, but this time the green-haired shinobi could put his own body behind it. Jinsei struggled to keep his shield up, but he was forced to use more and more of his sand and chakra to defend.

Ban decided this avenue wasn't delivering the results he needed, and as he pulled back he felt his arms sting with ache. He hadn't been expecting such a good defence. Unfortunately the sand of the shield didn't return to the gourd but followed him instead. It became a fast-moving cloud and surrounded the fifteen-year-old, then rushed in to condense.

The cocoon of sand crushed Ban, but for years Ban had been diving deep under the water of his home village, and a little pressure was nothing. With a burst of chakra-empowered strength Ban freed himself and moved, hoping to outpace the sand to its master.

Jinsei was shocked to see his opponent break free from the Desert Coffin, and shocked to realise that all of the sand contained by his gourd was too far away to reach him in time. Jinsei had just one chance left, and he dissolved the gourd itself for its sand. That extra boost was enough for him to attack Ban's legs and slow the Mist-nin down, but he slashed his way free in only one second.

But that extra second was enough for the sand coming from behind Ban to pass him and return to its master. Ban was undeterred and fought on, intent on trying his strength against Jinsei's shield from a closer standing. But Jinsei didn't meet the blade with a shield this time, but with a sword of his own. A sword of sand.

The brief moment of surprise was enough for Jinsei to launch his own counter-attack, but Ban parried Jinsei's sand sword with ease. The two Genin pushed against each other, and Ban dominated the younger boy physically. Jinsei held his own though, because he could use his bloodline ability to control sand to increase the force behind his sword.

Still, Jinsei was no match for someone who'd been training with the sword as long and as hard as Hoshigaki Ban. But he didn't need to be, because more sand flowed from the reformed gourd on Jinsei of the Desert's back and a second sword appeared behind Ban. It slashed at Ban's back, drawing blood through the Genin's blue cloak.

Ban screamed in pain and surprise. He'd seen the sand flowing behind him, but he hadn't been able to move enough in time. He had dodged as well as he could given the circumstances, but not nearly enough to avoid the slicing sword strike.

Jinsei was worried when he saw Ban bounce away from their struggle. He'd been hoping that sneak attack would win the fight for him, but he'd had no such luck. The Mist-nin was truly strong – stronger than any Genin had the right to be. But then he was the son of the legendary Kazekage Gaara, and he would not give up that easily.

Ban flowed chakra into his back to keep the wound as closed as he could. He was no medic-nin, but he knew enough basic jutsus to help stop the flow of blood from his body. He made a show of being weak when he threw his sword, which missed Jinsei altogether. Ban sprinted towards his opponent and tried to hit him with his bare hands, but sand stopped him once again, as restraints formed around his wrists.

That was the moment the sword flew back and hit Jinsei right in the back. His Sand Armour stopped it from slicing through him, but he still felt the blow, and as the sword fell to the floor so did the Sand-nin.

Winner of the final fight of the Chuunin preliminaries - Hoshigaki Ban.

**Author's Note: Been a long time since I updated, huh? I meant what I said last time about that incident de-motivating me, but I've been trying to get over that. This chapter is out now and that's all that matters. Took a while to write once I got started anyway, because it was pretty long.**

**I put a little guide to who the Genin are at the beginning so I hope no one gets confused in this one. Also there's not really very many POV sections, so that should be an improvement.**

**My next review will be 333! This is cool to me because I really like the number 3. Don't ask me why, I'm just strange. So whoever gets that review will receive a fabulous prize! (Note: there is no fabulous prize)**

**The next chapter should hopefully be out soon. It'll be a character one instead of action. The last chapter with Gaara was really well received, so I'm going to do a sequel to that once I can think of a good enough idea for it. That is unlikely to be the next chapter though.**

**I hope everyone is still reading this, so if you are, leave me a review! Thanks! I was hoping to hit 600 last chapter, but now I stopped two away. So, I'm confident I'll hit it with this one.**


	27. Chapter 26

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Six: Machinations**

A man's head peered over the cradle. As he watched the two babies sleep, his glasses slipped down his nose. With one hand he carefully pushed them back up and smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

"I want one."

The man lifted his head and turned to face his companion in the small room.

"That wasn't the deal."

"I don't care," the voice comes from a woman. She's tired, her eyes heavy with bags under them and her hair messy and wet with sweat. "Nine months of pregnancy and thirty hours of labour. I'm going to keep one of my babies."

"You're not in a position to bargain here."

"Yes I am. You don't think their father would be interested to know about your little experiments, Kabuto?"

Faster than she could react he was behind her, with a hand covered with killing chakra to her throat. His eyes were blood-shot, maddened.

"One move and I end your life, Kisaragi."

"Okay, okay! Let me go."

Kabuto, leader of the village of the Hidden Sound, released the woman. She smoothed herself off and stepped away from him, positioning the crib – and by extension the two newborn babies it contained - between the two of them.

"Please Kabuto. There are two of them, and you said it yourself you were only expecting one child. You only need one of them! They're my babies, please let me keep one!"

"It's true," Kabuto said with a smile. "I do only need one for my plans. But there's no harm in having a spare. I could satisfy all my curiosities with some simple exploratory surgery."

The blood drained from Kirasagi's face. "You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?"

"I put just as much into this project as you did Kabuto. More. I deserve to have one of my children."

Kirasagi talked on, and with every word that came from her lips she could feel Kabuto falling deeper into her genjutsu. The patterns of her speech were modulated just right, on exactly the frequencies she needed. It was a gift of her Hidden Sound upbringing and training.

Kirasagi was not as powerful as Kabuto, but she had her own gifts. She had lived in the Hidden Sound for almost her entire life, whereas Kabuto had spent most of his childhood in the Hidden Leaf instead, spying for their former master Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru was dead now, killed by the Rokudaime Hokage of the Leaf, and the Sound village was Kabuto's – given to him by Uzumaki Naruto in exchange for not interfering in that same fight.

Kabuto could distantly feel as if something were wrong. His mind seemed to be floating up and out of his body on an impossibly soft cloud. His senses dulled, and all of a sudden letting Kirasagi keep one of the twin babies didn't seem like such a bad idea. Why did he need two anyway? It wasn't like he really wanted to keep another brat around the house. Yes, he'd let Kirasagi take a baby, and then Kabuto could get back to the important things in life.

While Kabuto was in his daze Kirasagi hurriedly picked up one of the babies, wrapped his blanket round him tight and ran out of the room. They were inside what had formerly been Orochimaru's headquarters and was now the home of Kabuto and the grey-haired ninja's twisted experiments. Kabuto had kept Kirasagi well within the building during the later stages of her pregnancy and then her labour, so that he could ensure that she was under his control the entire time, and also in part to hide her from view. The fewer people who knew about her the fewer questions would be asked, and Kabuto definitely did not want people to start asking questions. Especially the sorts of questions that could lead to trouble, like "Who is the father of that woman's baby?"

Kirasagi ran out of the complex and into the busy streets of the small village. She rounded a few corners, headed into an alley and changed her appearance with a simple Henge. Her baby she hid with a genjutsu. Kirasagi was one of the Sound's best practitioners of genjutsus – her skill had earned her a place in the Sound Five a few years past, though she had been forced to leave active duty after Kabuto impregnated her.

Once her disguise was in place and the baby boy safely hidden under the veil of illusion, Kirasagi continued on her way out of the village – slowly this time, slowly and carefully. She had to look just like the civilian her disguise made her out to be. While Kirasagi normally was a tall woman with long, flowing brown hair, hard but striking features and sharp dark eyes. Normally she wore the uniform of an elite Sound ninja, in her disguise she was a short, plain looking village woman with the drab, utilitarian clothes of a typical housewife.

There were four gates out of the Sound village, and a member of the Sound Five oversaw one each, while their leader took charge of the defence of the entire village. They were not always all on duty, but Kirasagi couldn't be sure which of the four were guarding their gate at the moment. She had no real choice but to leave the village as quickly as possible – her genjutsu on Kabuto wouldn't last forever. She headed for the East gate, since it was the closest, and hoped for the best.

Kirasagi got close to leaving freely, she really did. But she had simply been unlucky.

"Kirasagi-san. Why are you wearing that disguise?" The voice was one she'd been dreading - Haraki of the East Gate.

"I know it's you, Kirasagi-san. I'd recognize that heartbeat anywhere."

Under her Henge Kirasagi cursed Haraki's name. Why did the closest exit to the village have to be the one guarded by him?

She released her jutsu, revealing her true form.

"My, you look terrible Kirasagi-san. Does Kabuto-sama know you are leaving the village?"

"Yes he does, and if you don't want him to kill you you'll let me go without making any further unnecessary delays, Haraki."

"Oh, your heart says you're lying Kirasagi-san." He hopped down from his seat to face his former comrade head on. "I'm going to have to take you to see Kabuto-sama. Unless, of course, you can explain that second heartbeat, Kirasagi-san? I might have to… investigate it otherwise. And I don't think you'd want that, would you Kirasagi-san?"

The kunoichi locked eyes with Haraki, but as always it was useless – she could not intimidate the blind man.

Haraki took Kirasagi's arm gently, but she knew full well that grip could tighten enough to crush the bones of her arm. She would not risk escape – she could not, not and risk the life of her son.

When the three of them –Kirasagi, Haraki and the tiny sleeping babe returned to Kabuto's side he was not watching over the second of the children any more. No, Kabuto was sitting on his chair, waiting.

When Orochimaru had ruled the Sound it had been a throne, for Orochimaru had considered himself a god among men. Kabuto had no such delusions about his mortality, and so the same seat for him was but a chair. Under Orochimaru the meeting room had been the court of a king. Under Kabuto it was a place where business was done, coldly, calmly and smoothly. The Hidden Sound ran much better in the skilled hands of a surgeon than it did under the rule of an obsessed psychopath.

"Kirasagi, I don't think you quite understand the finer details of our agreement. You were to carry the child to term, and in return you would be given wealth and freedom from the Curse Seal my predecessor placed on you.

"I have removed the Curse Seal, something only I am capable of, and the money has been transferred to your account. My side of the bargain is complete. You will fulfil yours, or I will kill you."

Haraki increased the pressure on Kirasagi's arm, and she winced in pain.

She remembered how she'd felt when the deal had first been struck – Kirasagi had wanted her freedom more than anything, and a child had been the last thing she'd ever wanted. Even after the embryos were implanted into her and she began the long pregnancy the woman had thought nothing of the children growing within her. She was a kunoichi, not a brood mare, and she had more important things in her life than taking care of mewling babies.

But nine months was a long, long time, with a lot of emotional investment. And even then, nothing had compared to the first time she'd held her children. A connection was made then, and it was one that Kirasagi would give anything not to break.

But with greater reluctance than she'd ever known before, feeling her life and that of her son at risk, Kirasagi released her genjutsu and held her cloth-swaddled infant son out to Kabuto.

She stayed that night within the Sound base, in the same room she'd lived those past months in. She could not sleep.

As the sun rose Kirasagi was already up, pacing around her windowless underground room. She had spent hours thinking things over, trying to find a way she could still get what she needed.

Haraki had been posted outside her room as a guard so that she wouldn't even think of trying to escape again. The blind ninja might not have been able to see, but his other senses were far beyond normal human limits. He could hear her every movement – hear the blood rushing through her body and her heart's steady pulse. He could smell the fear and doubt and worry rising from her. He could taste the sweat on her skin and the chemicals her body was producing. She was trapped, there was nothing she could do to escape Haraki – with his senses, no one genjutsu could fool him.

It came as a surprise to Kirasagi when the door to her room – her cell, it was now – opened. Haraki stepped in. For a moment Kirasagi thought he had been sent to kill her, but instead he politely asked her to follow him.

The blind ninja lead Kirasagi even deeper underground to one of Kabuto's secret laboratories. He continued the work that he and Orochimaru had done on physical experimentation and artificial augmentation, though he took a far more scientific approach than the late Snake Sannin.

Kirasagi was aghast to see her two children hooked up to various machines. She couldn't breathe, her heart stopped and her brain ran wild with horror stories and nightmares. It took a minute for her to realise that they weren't dead, they hadn't been harmed at all, they were okay, and she could breathe again.

Kabuto greeted her with an unexpected contemplative tone. "Ah, Kisaragi. Please come in, I have something to talk to you about."

Her heart beating again, Kisaragi breathed deep breaths and sat on one of the beds. "Go on Kabuto."

The grey-haired medic-nin smiled at her and repositioned his glasses, which had fallen again. "I have thought of an alternative to our deal.

"You can take one of my subjects on the condition that you do what I want you to.

"I spent my childhood living in the Leaf, spying for Orochimaru. You and whichever one of the babies you take will do the same. You will have money and freedom, but I will require a few things.

"One, updates on the boy's condition, including all confidential medical data. Two, you will keep your identity and his the utmost secret. Three, the child is to be raised to be loyal to me. He will be my weapon, just like his brother. I want to see how the differences in our upbringings will affect the two – it should be very informative."

Kirasagi's heart fell at Kabuto's words. She'd wanted freedom, and she'd wanted a son, but now she had to choose between the two.

It was no real choice in the end.

Kirasagi took her son and left the Sound forever, to make their new life together in the village of the Hidden Leaf.

**Author's Note: As promised to Leaden Myr, here is a Kabuto chapter. I hope it was satisfactory.**

**This chapter was remarkably easy to write. I guess because I've basically had it planned out since the beginning. Hopefully the same will be true of the next chapter!**

**Coming up next is an interlude in the Chuunin Exam story with a focus on the adults rather than the kids.**

**Thanks for the reviews as always. Keep 'em coming!**


	28. Chapter 27

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Between Heaven and Earth**

"As you know, there will be a month long interval between now and the Finals of the Chuunin Exam."

Gaara of the Desert, Kazekage of the Hidden Sand, sat behind his desk. Facing him were some old friends – Rock Lee, Inuzaka Kiba and Hyuuga Konohamaru. Standing alongside them was also someone he'd never thought he'd have to see again. Just like them, he was an old acquaintance. Unlike them, he had never been a friend.

His name was Hoshigaki Kisame, and years ago he had been one of the deadliest of enemies. A member of the criminal organization Akatsuki, who among their manifold crimes could include an attack on the Hidden Sand and the kidnapping of Gaara.

Needless to say, Kisame was not someone Gaara enjoyed seeing. Even though the shark-man had been pardoned by his home village; even though Kisame himself had not taken part in the attack on the Sand or the subsequent kidnapping of Gaara, that didn't mean that Gaara or anyone else in the room had forgotten who Kisame was. But the Kazekage could not simply execute whomever he wanted, much to Gaara's disappointment.

It had been a long time since Kisame was a member of Akatsuki though, and a long time since he'd been a missing-nin. For thirteen years he had been nothing but a simple Jounin of the Mist village.

"During this month your students will be allowed access to the Sand's Genin-approved training grounds assuming either you or they properly request their use from my office. They may also freely visit any non-restricted areas of the village itself, though they are to obey our laws while doing so."

Gaara's tone did not leave any room for argument. It was a skill that he had picked up over his years as being a demonic killing machine, and later honed by his lifetime duty as Kazekage. It was also a pretty good ability for a father to have.

That was another reason Gaara had to be less than happy with Kisame – one of the Mist-nin's students had beaten Gaara's own son, Jinsei. Gaara had watched the fight, and had wanted more than anything to stop it, but Jinsei needed to win or lose it on his own merits. He couldn't live a charmed life as Gaara's son forever.

The Jounins left Gaara's office – ostensibly to find their students, but the three Leaf-nins wanted to talk to their Mist counterpart. Oh yes.

They'd first come together during the preliminaries for the Chuunin Exam Finals, and the three Leaf Jounins had been very surprised to meet Kisame again. Especially Rock Lee and Inuzaka Kiba, who had numbered in the group who had defeated the Akatsuki. Lee had personally killed one of the missing-nins, fighting alongside the Sand Jounin Kankurou, brother of Gaara, and Tenten, the woman who was now Lee's wife and the mother of his children.

In fact as the four Jounins stepped out from the Kazekage's office Kankurou joined them. As the sensei of Okuta Mai, another of the Chuunin Final participants, Kankurou had a perfectly valid reason for wanting to talk to them. Of course the real reason was that he too was suspicious of Kisame. He'd fought alongside Lee and Kiba to save Gaara and Naruto from Akatsuki, of course, so his suspicions were justified.

"Kisame-san, wait a moment with us, will you?" Lee asked politely. The blue-skinned Jounin stopped, turned, and smiled his pointed smile. "Certainly.

"What is it you'd like to say?"

Lee looked at Kiba, who looked at Kankurou, who looked back at Lee. Konohamaru looked at all three of them.

"We remember Akatsuki very well, Kisame-San," Lee continued, "Do you?"

"I stopped being Akatsuki a long time ago. You should know that – you three had a lot to do with it." Kisame's eyes clouded over as his mind travelled decades into the past. The four other Jounin-senseis mistook the look in his eyes for nostalgia, and prepared themselves for battle.

Time seemed to slow down for the group. The corridor which should have been busy and bustling with daily life, emptied. The sounds of the Sand village stopped, leaving only the silence of the deadly pressure.

Kisame hated them. That's what he honestly felt in that moment. But still part of him regretted that, and for years now that part of his self was what he'd listened to – even if it took every ounce of willpower in his body. Kisame hated that if they were ever going to trust him he couldn't fight their killing intent with his own. He hated that he had to lose face in front of them. But he did it, all the same. Because he had to. He had to show the kids who'd been his enemy so many years ago that he was a different person now. Hoshigaki Kisame, swordsman of Akatsuki was dead. Now he was a Jounin of the Hidden Mist again, sensei to his own flesh and blood.

Now Kisame had to listen to that one part of his mind and block out the part that had ruled him for the first half of his life. He had to do that, because otherwise he would be betraying his brother, his family, and his friends.

"I'm not the man you knew anymore, Rock-san. Akatsuki died with its leader. And I gave up my blade more than ten years ago."

The other men were not convinced. They did not back down. The Kisame they knew of was a ruthless killing machine who'd done terrible, unspeakable things in his time. Mere words would not convince them otherwise. But there was nothing they could do right now.

Three of them left. They had more important things to do. One remained.

"What's your problem with me, kid? You weren't there. You didn't fight Akatsuki."

Konohamaru's eyes tightened a little, his expression becoming more guarded. This was an easy question, but a personal one. Still, he believed in redemption, and he believed that people were essentially good. These were lessons he had been taught well.

"The man I respect the most in this world, Kisame-san, is my sensei."

"Who was your sensei then?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."

"Oh. So you're blaming me for him getting captured?"

"No. I wouldn't have any hostility towards you; except I've seen the man I respect the most in the entire world, the strongest ninja ever to live, after one of his nightmares.

"Nightmares that he has because the leader of Akatsuki gave them to him. I'll never forgive that."

"I wasn't there."

"I know." Konohamaru turned away, and Kisame could no longer see the young man's ashen face as he spoke his final words. "And that is why you're still alive."

Konohamaru sped up his walking to a run, hoping to catch his fellow Jounin-senseis. Now that the business with Kisame was done – for now – Konohamaru had some prime gloating to get in. His students had pulled off two wins and a tie. Lee was closest to that with two wins and a loss, and both Kiba and Kankurou had pulled through with just one win apiece. Konohamaru sure was glad they'd made that bet.

Before the scarf-wearing Jounin could catch up with his friends though, a runner from the Sand's administration building caught up with him, panting.

"Hyuuga-san! I have a message for you. Mamoru, our fastest message bird just returned from a trip to the Leaf carrying a scroll for you."

"Oh?" Konohamaru raised his eyebrows and grinned friendlily at the man, who handed over a small message scroll. It was still sealed, and bore his name.

"Thank you," Konohamaru said, and the Chuunin ran off again. He broke the seal on the scroll and started reading. He was about halfway down the message when he burst out laughing, and then started walking again, this time headed to find his young team.

Uzumaki Yume, Yuuhi Sakumo and Nanaka Jo were in the Sand hospital. None of them were patients, despite Yume's insistence that Jo get himself checked out. Instead they were visiting their friends and new acquaintances who were still being looked after.

Yume poked her head round a doorframe, and grinned in success. "Found you!" She said victoriously, and the room's occupant smiled weakly in response.

Yume bounded into the room with her mad energy, followed by her more sedate friends, but Jinsei just stayed still in his hospital bed. He wasn't badly injured, but the staff didn't want to take any risks with the Kazekage's son – Jinsei was practically Hidden Sand royalty.

"So, how long they keeping you locked up?"

"Oh, you know, just for a few days," Jinsei said a little quietly. "I'm not hurt or anything… it's just a bit of chakra depletion and some bruises."

"As long as you're okay for the Finals so you can cheer me on!"

"Yeah…"

"Hmmm…" Yume looked like she was deep in thought. For a long minute she pondered something or other, wrestling with her own thoughts. Finally she came to her conclusion, and with one hand whacked Jinsei as hard as she could.

"Idiot! Quit moping around - don't think just because you lost one fight you get to feel sorry for yourself! Now cheer up or I'll make you!"

Jinsei sat in shock. That had hurt. Really hurt. And he didn't just mean his stinging cheek – Yume wasn't supposed to be more insightful than him dammit! He was smarter than her! And better than her! Hell yeah!

"Oh I'll cheer up. I'll cheer up a month from now when I get to watch you getting your ass kicked!"

"Heh," Yume flashed the redheaded boy her foxy grin. "Just don't let your horde of girlfriends crush you to death before then." Yume left the room, one hand raised in a familiar goodbye.

Elsewhere in the building Yume's younger brother, and former partner in crime Iruka was visiting the room of Uchiha Yamino. The Uzumaki boy felt bad about their fight. Not about the part where he won, of course, but about the part where Yamino had collapsed from exhaustion.

She really should have known better than to attempt a Jounin-class jutsu without the proper training. But then she wasn't to know that it was only because of the Uzumaki blood flowing through Iruka's veins that the dark-haired fox boy could use it. The Uzumaki clan inherited from their father his incredible stamina – the stamina that had let him use the Kage Bunshin at such a young age as well.

Iruka's girlfriend, Nara Kazeko, had chosen not to accompany him on this little expedition. In fact she had been very put out when he had broached the subject. Why would she want to visit the room of that Uchiha tramp? For that matter why did Iruka want to go? Oh, Kazeko burned with hatred. But not jealousy. Oh no.

"Hey, you're sure you're okay?"

Yamino laughed a little, a friendly laugh. "I'm fine Iruka-kun. It's sweet of you to come visit me, really. I wasn't expecting a visit from my opponent."

"So who were you expecting then?" Iruka asked, a sly smile creeping onto his lips.

"Oh, uhh, no one…" Yamino responded quickly, her cheeks turning pink.

Iruka laughed, and after a moment's outrage Yamino gave up and joined in.

In another room still, Yuuhi Sakumo lead his friends to the person he wanted to visit this time. Not that Yume was particularly unwilling to go see her own cousin. Jo went along with both of them without saying anything.

Sakumo asked Yume and Jo for a moment alone with Hyuuga Sazashi.

There was silence in the room for a long time. Sakumo's red eyes met Sazashi's white, and neither would speak. Neither wanted to be the one to break the silence. But eventually Sakumo brought himself to do it.

"How are your hands?"

Sazashi glared harder, but grudgingly responded. "Healing. They'll be fine."

"Can't have the son of Konoha's Great Healer being injured for too long, can we? Makes the village look bad." The bitterness of Sakumo's tone could have sliced through stone.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here, Sazashi, to make sure I didn't hurt the great genius too badly."

Another time of silence, with the two Genin simply staring at each other. You could have heard a pin drop, except neither of them would move enough to drop one, and with the intensity in the air no one else would be doing anything any time soon.

"What do you have against me, Yuuhi?"

"I have nothing against you, Hyuuga, except that I hate everyone who is called genius. I hate how superior people like you act. I hate how everything goes your way. Until now, right? Because I kicked your ass, and I did it easily. You never stood a chance.

"I guess that makes me more of a genius than you."

With that he left, and Yume took his place sitting across from her cousin. He didn't have much to say to her, but she sure had plenty to say to him, just like always.

Out of the front door to the hospital walked Uzumaki Iruka, whistling on the way to meeting his team. Now that he and Choumaru had a month to train, Lee-sensei had given them very, very strict routines. He could be a harsh taskmaster, but he knew what he was doing.

Kazeko and Choumaru greeted him as Iruka rejoined them at the training ground Lee had scheduled for their use. They greeted him a little differently however – Choumaru had given him a friendly wave; Kazeko had given him an icy stare and then turned her shoulder to him aloofly. Iruka had waved back to Choumaru and frowned confusedly at his girlfriend.

Lee was overjoyed to see his students, even though it had only been a few hours since he'd seen them last. With Rock Lee, every meeting was filled with passion!

Kankurou was pleased to see his student as well. He would have been more pleased if more than one of them was out of the hospital, but he made do.

Kiba was in the same boat as Kankurou. His only student to pass was Rock Len, and he was also the only one not in the hospital. Still, if there was anything in the world that Len loved it was training, so they had plenty to do.

"Hey, Konohamaru-sensei!" Yume shouted. "Where are you?!"

"I'm standing right here, Yume," came the reply. Part of the wall seemed to come to life, and Konohamaru suddenly came into view. He had been standing so perfectly still that none of the three had even noticed him.

"We've got a long month ahead of us. But Yume, I'm afraid I can't train you."

"What? Why not! Konohamaru-sensei, that's unfair!!"

"Calm down. I just meant that someone else is here to do it instead."

Just as Konohamaru spoke, smoke exploded as if from nowhere, and there appeared a man. A big man, with long white hair, sitting on top of a giant frog.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Yume-chan, you're developing nicely!"

**Author's Note: Gotta love that last line. Well, I do.**

**Pretty short chapter, but it's just an interlude. Basically its purpose is just to develop a couple of the characters and their relationships some more. And also to push forward the timeline. The next part of the Chuunin arc will be the beginning of the Finals, because I will almost certainly have to split them into two chapters due to sheer length.**

**Hope everyone enjoyed it. Remember to review if you want to maintain my much-needed self-esteem!**

**On another matter – yes, the baby was Jo. **


	29. Chapter 28

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Eight: The Legendary Three**

Are you ready?

There's a voice in the back of every ninja's mind before they go on a mission. Not everyone listens to it, if they let their emotions or their inexperience speak louder.

It doesn't matter if that mission is a high level assassination or a lowly gardening job: the voice is always there. The wise listen to it; the foolhardy ignore it.

In the back of Haruno Sakura's mind the voice was speaking loud and clear.

Are you ready?

"Sakura-san, it's time."

She stood up from her desk, and slipped on her flak jacket.

Are you ready?

Uchiha Sasuke had problems with voices. They haunted him.

The voice of his father.

"As expected of my son."

The voice of his mother.

"You're all he talks about."

The voice of his brother.

"I win."

Sasuke held his head clutched in his hands and moaned. The words didn't stop.

"I win. I win. I win. I win. I win."

"SHUT UP!"

The world spun, and Sasuke felt everything distort around him. It didn't make any sense.

"Sssshhhh," a soft voice came from beside him. Yamanaka Ino put her hands around her lover's neck and soothed him with her words, with her hands, with her soul.

Are you ready?

That was one voice Sasuke couldn't afford to ignore. He had his duty, and he had his strength. He owed a debt, and those two things were the only way he had to repay it.

He stood and walked out the door. With every step away the voices muted. He knew they'd be back.

Are you ready?

Standing high above the village of the Hidden Leaf, one man in his hat and his robes overlooked it all. His village, his home, his realm. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't dreamt of doing this, and now it had been two years since Uzumaki Naruto had taken over from Tsunade. Two years since he had become the Rokudaime Hokage.

"Naruto-kun, is it time?"

Standing behind Naruto was the woman he loved. The woman he had loved for longer than he'd been Hokage. The woman who had loved him for almost as long as he'd dreamt of wearing those same robes and that same hat.

Naruto turned, took Hinata into his arms and kissed her deeply. Then just as deeply he stared into her white eyes. She was beautiful.

"It's time."

Naruto took off those robes, and underneath he wore his orange and black battle suit, with his flak jacket over the top.

He heard the voice.

Are you ready?

And he answered.

"I'm ready."

Chakra surged to Naruto's legs and he leapt forward, soaring above the village. Far beneath him the people of Konoha looked to the sky in wonder. Their Hokage was amazing.

As Naruto passed over the boundary of the village he began to fall. Fast. But chakra swirled around his hands, and huge, powerful gusts of wind came forth. He focused them down, and his descent slowed.

He landed neatly, one knee bent to the ground, between his two team-mates.

"Did you have to do that, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. "Flashy entrances are such a Genin thing to do."

"Ohh yeah, nice idea there you bastard… But I suppose you're the expert on Genin, since you were one for… what? Six years? Hey, if you miss it I can arrange for you to be demoted with my mad Hokage powers."

Sakura punched them both lightly, and after they picked themselves up from their respective craters the two men had a more serious expression on their faces.

"How many are there?" Sasuke asked grimly.

"Reports say somewhere between two and three thousand."

"Small fries?" Sakura said hopefully.

"No such luck," Naruto replied. "Mostly Jounin, and the Chuunins backing them up are ANBU trained or equivalent. The army of the Cloud, and they've gathered every missing-nin with a grudge against the Leaf they could find. They made a pretty big mistake though…"

"…they think they can win, right?" Sakura grinned. She stretched her hand out and presented it to her two best friends. "To Team Seven."

Naruto and Sasuke's hands joined hers. "To Team Seven," they intoned together.

"How far away are they?" Sakura asked, holding out her hand to Naruto, who reached into his kunai holster and pulled out a strange kunai with seals marked on its handle. He tossed it towards the pink-haired woman, who deftly caught it.

"They should be about fifteen miles north of here."

"Just about right then," the kunoichi said with a sly smile. "Here we go!"

Sakura spun her body around and with precision perfect control of her chakra let the kunai fly loose incredibly fast up into the air. The sound of the air snapping filled the three ninja's ears, and Sakura and Sasuke grabbed hold of Naruto's shoulders. Sakura whispered a few words and a genjutsu shimmered around the team.

"Ten… nine… eight…" Naruto counted down, eyes on his watch. "three… two… UZUMAKI HIRAISHIN NO JUTSU!"

The three ninjas flickered out of view in a spiral of at the outskirts of the Leaf village, and at that exact moment fifteen miles away they flickered back into sight, with Naruto's hand around the kunai Sakura had thrown.

They appeared a few metres above the ground, and landed gently on the grass plain. Naruto nodded to Sasuke, "You take the rear. I'll go straight in," Naruto turned to face Sakura "And we'll do the Stomp routine from here."

The army was dead ahead of them, thousands of highly trained and deadly warriors, with jutsus and powers and abilities from all over the world. Some of the most infamous missing-nins ever made up its numbers, and every last one of them dedicated to destroying the Leaf and the things Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke held dear.

Sasuke's chakra surged and activated, and in a blur of motion faster than the eye could see he was gone, circling at super-speed behind the Cloud's forces. And with that, the genjutsu hiding them was now useless. Sakura and Naruto were fully visible to the whole army, making them targets.

But that was all part of the plan.

Naruto took a step forward, and deep within his mind he flipped a hidden switch. Red, raw power roared into his veins, and to the rapidly approaching army the battle aura of the Demon Fox burned into their sense. It was as if their minds were on fire as the sheer enormity of the chakra pushed back at them. It felt evil, bestial, demonic. The pressure broke the minds of many of the army's shinobi, and they in turn broke their ranks. Just contact with Naruto's blood-red eyes, with that gaze angrier than anything humanly possible, sent the army into disarray.

As the weaker-willed ninjas scattered, as soon as they left the safety of the amassed crowd something cut them down. Something moving faster than they had thought possible sliced straight through them, leaving only the crackling of lightning and the sound of flocks upon flocks of birds chirping.

From the front the army faced the monstrous power of a demon. From the rear something was slaughtering them the moment they moved.

They were trapped. There was nowhere for them to go; nowhere was safe.

The man with the eyes of a demon stepped towards the scared and shocked army and jumped into the air. He performed a set of seals calmly, and from behind a huge cloud of smoke a gigantic frog appeared in mid-air above the Cloud-nin army, casting a shadow over them.

The Hokage opened his mouth and shouted out the word "FROG…" The beautiful pink-haired woman accompanying him, who up until then had done nothing to make the army fear her, leapt into the air and with one hand on the enormous frog forced it down. Her incredible strength was enough to make the frog's slow fall accelerate dramatically, and as the amphibian crashed into the ground with the force of an earthquake, the kunoichi finished the attack name her companion had started "…STOMP!"

Again, those who scattered to avoid being crushed by the Frog Stomp combination attack found themselves sliced in half by a blade of lightning. Dozens of ninjas died in such quick succession that it was as if there were a thousand deadly swords blocking their path, and not just one man with the sword of the Thousand Birds.

The giant frog disappeared, and Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura landed back on the ground next to each other. The air blurred and bent, and beside them was Uchiha Sasuke.

"All the babies dealt with?" Sakura asked.

"The ones you didn't crush I killed." Sasuke replied.

"Good then, now the adults can get down to business." Naruto concluded.

The three Leaf-nins stood in a line facing the remains of the army. The army of two thousand had been cut down to just a few hundred, but these survivors were the truly powerful of their original numbers. Only the weak had been removed.

Each of the three extended their right hands in a fist, their thumbs pointed down, and then with a practised precision brought those thumbs up to their teeth as one, and bit down. Blood coming from the small tears in their skin, the three performed their seals and pushed their right palms down to the ground, saying three words: "Summoning no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, Naruto stood on the head of the Boss Frog, Gamabunta, with his scarred eye and giant sword. Sasuke stood on the head of the Boss Snake, Manda, with his purple scales and evil yellow eyes. Sakura stood on the head of the Boss Slug, Katsuyu, with her blue skin and white antennae.

"Let's do this!" Yelled Naruto. "Gamabunta, let's go!"

Manda hissed, "HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE THAT IDIOT FROG?"

Sasuke pointed at the army. "You can eat as many of them as you want. Unless of course you let the dobe and Gamabunta beat you to it."

"YOU'LL TAKE THOSE WORDS BACK!" Manda sped towards the enemy, lunging his enormous head at them and snapping his jaws that could devour dozens of men and women whole.

Sakura sighed. "Boys will be boys."

"TELL ME ABOUT IT," Katsuyu said with a rumbling laugh that came out far too bubbly and slimy for anything close to a human throat to have made.

The three massive summoned beasts and the shinobi they carried advanced on the remaining forces. Gamabunta drew his kodachi, swinging it down at the Cloud-nins and their allies. Manda snapped and bit at them, greedily swallowing the weakest of the opposing force. Katsuyu spat out balls of acid that burned the shinobi whole, not even leaving their bones intact.

While most of the Cloud army were overwhelmed by this surprising show of power, some few simply moved on with their counter measures, fighting back. One man bit his own thumb and performed his own seals, and into the battle arrived a giant wolf the same size as the Leaf summons. Atop Fenri's head the summoner panted in exhaustion but directed the Boss Wolf at his enemies.

Other ninjas summoned their own creatures to fight, but no others could manage to call upon enough chakra to bring the boss creature of their animal contract. Hawks, tigers, lions and other animals littered the battlefield, throwing themselves valiantly at the superior power of the three Leaf-nins.

Fenri matched his fangs and claws against Gamabunta's blade, catching the kodachi in his mouth and slashing into the frog's skin, drawing huge spurts of blood. The Frog Boss let the hilt go and jumped into the air, shooting out three huge balls of compressed water. The first impacted with Fenri's back, forcing his mouth open and the blade out as the second and third balls hit the giant wolf's head in quick succession.

The Wolf Boss groaned with a voice loud and deep enough to shake the ground and collapsed. Before his head could hit the ground he disappeared, back to his own world.

"You go back too," Naruto murmured to Gamabunta.

"WHAT?! I CAN STILL FIGHT!"

"Do it Boss, you're injured. I can take it from here."

Still grumbling, the giant frog disappeared into smoke as well, and Uzumaki Naruto, Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf adroitly somersaulted down to solid ground. At the precise moment that his sandaled feet touched down on the grass he split from one body into a hundred, each wearing the bright orange and black clothes he was famous for. The Leaf's Orange Shadow prepared to fight, and beneath his head protector the Leaf Seal burned darkly.

With supreme skill the Kage Bunshins of the Rokudaime spread out and claimed their targets, weaving between the spouts of acid spewed out by Katsuyu and Manda's sharp, snapping jaws. Sakura and Sasuke laughed and jumped down from the heads of their summons as well, joining their comrade in the fray.

Haruno Sakura had learned from her master well. Thanks to the ultimate skill of chakra control that she possessed her strength was the greatest on the planet. With one punch she could send an enemy flying for miles, and with her surgical precision she could kill or revive a man with the slightest touch. She fought with just as much precision, using her gifted mind to quickly and carefully calculate her best option at any time.

Uchiha Sasuke was no slouch either. He was one of the world's supreme taijutsu masters, with the moves and styles of hundreds of fighters perfectly crystallised within his Sharingan eyes. He could flow in combat like no one else, switching from one style to another and matching whatever his opponents could muster. His red eyes saw all and recorded every single movement and jutsu for his own use. He was untouchable.

Although Uzumaki Naruto was capable of just as much skill, control and precision as his two teammates, just as often on battle he would fight like a beast, unleashing a power greater than any in the world. Even without the ultimate chakra of the demon Kyuubi Naruto possessed more chakra and stamina than any other ninja alive. The only ones who could come close to challenging him in that regard were his teammates and the Kazekage of the Sand.

The battle raged on, but for every moment that passed another of the Cloud's army fell, and no one stood to replace the fallen. In contrast, there was not even a scratch on any of the three Leaf-nins. Every wound that was inflicted on Uzumaki Naruto - and there were few at that – simply healed within seconds. Sasuke was too fast and too skilled for anyone to touch him, as his Sharingan told him their every move before they even knew it. And Sakura, though she was dealt some few injuries, possessed the skill to simply close them with a gesture and a flow of healing chakra.

It did not take long for the enemy numbers to fall down into single digits. And that voice was still in the minds of Team Seven, still asking its silent question.

Naruto smiled.

Are you ready?

"You better believe I am," he said, his kunai slashing through the air, and into history.

**Author's Note: Finally another chapter. All I can say to apologize is that I had a killer case of writer's block. And, of course, I'm sorry.**

**You all should check out "The Flower and the Butterfly", written by a good friend of mine. It's short but good, and Chouji fics are too rare for this one to go by without getting any recognition.**

**Thanks, and please review my story as well!**


	30. Chapter 29

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Twenty Nine: The Day of Uzumaki**

Naruto woke up that day very early.

He woke up every day early – as a rule he didn't need much sleep, which was something he'd only really noticed when he'd become a father. Only needing a few hours of sleep a night sure came in handy when you had crying babies waking you every ten minutes. Especially when you had a family as large as the Uzumakis.

Six children were a lot for anyone – be they ninjas or not. Naruto and Hinata were blessed to live in a time of peace where they could love their children without the fear of them being orphaned. Of course the era of peace the Hidden Leaf village lived in had a lot to do with the hard work and toil of its Hokage.

The sun was just peaking out from above the horizon with a subtle red glow as Naruto quietly opened the door to the Uzumaki mansion and stealthily snuck out. It was time for his morning run around the village, one of Naruto's favourite times of day!

Ever since he'd become the Hokage Naruto just didn't get to fight or go on exciting missions as much. Sure he'd fought wars and defeated armies, but it wasn't quite the same as being able to go on simple missions whenever he wanted.

But Naruto wouldn't change it for the world. He achieved his dream, and he had a family he loved more than anything else.

Still, it was good to get some exercise. Naruto was going to have to go on a mission soon, he needed to get his blood flowing again. Couldn't have the Hokage getting soft and weak now could they? Not when he had to be strong enough to defend the village from any threat, definitely not.

What Naruto thought of as his morning jog wasn't really anything of the sort, of course. Unless, that is, one could count leaping and hopping from roof to roof and flying about with localized gusts of wind as jogging. He would jump dozens of metres into the air and spin about, getting a fast look over the whole village before turning that spin into a landing. Naruto enjoyed it a lot, and always made sure to throw in some surprises for himself and the early-rising villagers who enjoyed watching their Hokage having such fun.

It made Naruto's heart sing to see the people of the Leaf village looking at him with love and appreciation. Too many years of his life had been spent with those same stares filled with hatred and fear. Too many years by far. Though those days were long gone and barely remembered.

No one who knew Naruto could hate him. No one could hate someone who enjoyed life that much. Not when it was clear on his face just how much he loved every breath he took and everyone he knew. Even the most hardened, bitter souls could not deny the strength of Uzumaki's passion. A strength that was enough to conquer the hearts and minds of anyone, even if they'd lost their entire family to the demon fox Kyuubi.

Not a single person could deny that for all the harm and suffering the Kyuubi had cause; for every death and every loss; the Rokudaime had repayed the village in kind using the monster's power. He had saved the village so many times and so many more lives than the Kyuubi attack had cost.

Naruto passed by the Ichiraku Ramen stand – although thanks mostly to his patronage it had long since grown beyond a simple stand – and skidded to a halt. He looked longingly into the window, and then sighed. Hinata would be getting up and making breakfast soon. He couldn't pop in for a quick bowl, even though he wanted to so, so badly. He almost shed a tear at the thought of what he was giving up.

When Naruto had been a teenager his friends had often joked that nothing could stop him from eating ramen. And it was true for a while, but eventually he'd found the one thing he loved more than ramen, and she would be waking up right about then, which meant that Naruto really needed to hurry back and wish the love of his life a good morning.

As Uzumaki Hinata stirred from the few peaceful hours of rest she'd managed to get, she groaned as baby Koyuki began to cry. But before Hinata could jump to her feet, her husband was there in the room, lifting their baby daughter up and out of her cradle. He shushed her softly and rocked her in his arms.

"She's hungry."

Hinata sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You're sure?"

"I think by the sixth baby I might know these things by now, don't you?" Naruto grinned at his wife, and she smiled sweetly, though sleepily back.

"Okay, I'm getting up, I'm getting up."

He passed Koyuki over to Hinata, who opened her pyjama top and started feeding the baby. Naruto kissed Hinata's cheek and she blushed a little. He whispered into her ear and she blushed a lot more. "No, the kids will be getting up soon, we can't!"

Naruto gave her his puppy dog eye look, and Hinata was sorely tempted to give in. He stepped forward to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Later," she said breathlessly.

"Okay, if that's a promise," Naruto said with his foxy grin. "And you can't go back on your word, remember?"

"Of course," Hinata replied, rolling her eyes. He never got tired of that one. Laughing the happy couple took their baby daughter and went downstairs. In the kitchen Hinata placed Koyuki in her baby seat and tied on her apron. After being married to Naruto for twelve years and raising such a large family her culinary skills had been honed to a fine edge. She could kill a man with a single well-prepared dish.

The delicious smell of good food pervaded the house, and within moments of it reaching the noses of each of the Uzumaki children they were up, dressed and downstairs. There was nothing like their stomachs to motivate an Uzumaki.

Yume, Iruka and Neji acted out their morning ritual of fighting over the best seats and best servings of breakfast, and for once Neji came out in the lead, crowing with delight as he managed to grab the biggest serving for himself. At eleven, ten and eight respectively, the three oldest Uzumaki children were quite a handful. Especially when one considered the demon stamina they'd all inherited. Hanako sighed and let her elder siblings fight each other, giving her more than enough of a window of opportunity to stake her own claim on the morning foods of her choice. His father babied little Obito, playing a game with the food he served the toddler, and Koyuki gargled happily at the antics of her family.

The three oldest Uzumaki children squabbled and fought harmlessly amongst themselves, and Hinata sat down with the others to eat her own breakfast. She didn't eat nearly as much as her husband or children – she didn't have demonic stamina to feed – so she always made sure they had plenty before making something for herself.

As much as Naruto would have liked to spend all day with his family, his duties were just as important. He kissed Hinata goodbye, hugged the other children (much to the chagrin of Yume, Iruka and Neji), wished them all good days at school, then set out the door. Hinata giggled a little, her hand over her mouth, and two minutes later Naruto came rushing back in.

"Oh! I'm supposed to look after Obito today, aren't I? Sorry, sorry," he picked the youngest Uzumaki boy up and placed him on his shoulder, then grabbed the day bag.

"Bye!" The door slammed shut for the second time, and Naruto was off. With Obito resting on his shoulder he couldn't go all out, but he still made the trip fun for the two of them – ducking and weaving through the smiling crowds, jumping across rooftops. Obito laughed as they traversed perilous climbs and narrowly missed running into walls or cliffs. All of the Uzumaki children were inured to this sort of thing at a young age, which helped explain how fearless they became as they grew older, but Naruto still enjoyed it too much to stop. Besides, if they were going to grow up as strong shinobi and kunoichi they'd need this sort of experience.

It wasn't as if they were ever in any danger. Naruto wasn't that reckless. Well, not any more. Well, not with his children anyway. Well, at least not any of the recent ones. He could still remember the beating, both verbal and physical; that Hinata had given him the first time he'd gone running with Yume, all those years ago.

The Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf and the man widely proclaimed as the strongest ninja of all time shuddered at that particular memory.

Naruto reached the administration building and jumped up to an open window up on the first floor. It was a brilliant plan – to cover for his slight tardiness, he'd pretend he was upstairs all the time. Yes, truly brilliant indeed!

"Oh Hokage-sama, you're here!"

Curses. The room was occupied. Another ingenious scheme ruined.

Naruto made his way downstairs in a cloud of dejected defeat, and not even the warm and open friendliness of the people greeting him was enough to cheer him up. Still, when he placed young Obito in his highchair and the toddler smiled everything was better. To Naruto's ears Obito's baby gibberish was like a divine symphony. For just a moment, anyway. It made all the difference in the world to him.

"Alright everyone! Time to get to work!"

At the same time, Yume, Iruka and Neji were leaving together for the ninja academy. Yume and Iruka were just beginning their final year, and Neji had only recently started going to the classes. At the moment things for the second son of the Uzumaki clan were pretty boring. He had yet to learn a single thing he hadn't been able to do for years already. And it was pretty frustrating to watch the other kids struggle and fail. Although, thinking about it, the tedious basic lessons did give young Neji plenty of time to plot the next of his pranks, and that was never time wasted.

Yume and Iruka were onto more complex subjects in their classes, but they were still the best of the group regardless. Their grades were effortlessly superb; thanks to their natural intelligence and the hard work they'd been doing almost since birth. The duo spent most of their time and energy on pranks as well, but theirs were of smaller scale by necessity, as they were currently obsessed with breaking Udon-sensei. They knew they just had to keep pushing and one day he'd just snap! And it would be a glorious day of victory for the Uzumaki Corps!

Hanako was going to school as well, but she was headed to the pre-school instead. Hinata walked along side her dark-haired daughter, one hand holding Hanako's and another pushing Koyuki's baby stroller along the street. Both Hinata and Naruto had a tendency to baby Hanako, and it was only natural because Hanako had not inherited the inhuman stamina of her siblings, or their speed at recuperating.

It wasn't as if Hanako lacked stamina or had a poor immune system or anything like that, but when compared to the rest of the family she came up lacking, and she knew it. She was old enough to wonder why the rest of the family had whiskers marking their cheeks and she didn't, or why they never had to worry about cuts and grazes like she did.

On the other hand, it certainly did come in handy for getting Hanako what she wanted. Her parents were always willing to treat her to almost anything she asked for if she would just cry a little about how she felt useless compared to everyone else. Life was sweet for Uzumaki Hanako, she couldn't deny that.

Hinata waved Hanako off and returned back home to the sound of a chirping bird.

"Oh dear, another request?" she said, shaking her head and groaning. She opened the window and let the little bird hop in before untying the message from its leg. It squawked loudly in a demanding tone, and Hinata popped a tiny piece of meat into its mouth. It promptly flew off.

Hinata unfurled the note, sighing as she did. Even though they knew full well she had her hands full being a mother the Torture and Interrogation Squad simply couldn't stop bothering her. Day after day they'd send the messages and formal requests for assistance; it was really such a bother. Couldn't they take no for an answer? Hinata supposed it was their training to keep at the interrogations until they finally got what they wanted that was to blame – they just couldn't stop applying the same rules to real life as well.

But perhaps Hinata did owe them a case or two. Her skill at genjutsu was surpassed only by a very few, and with the Byakugan her touch could be as precise as a surgeon. She'd spent many a day working on difficult to crack criminals or spies, supporting Naruto's golden age from the shadows.

Hinata looked at her watch and took a very careful note of the time. Ten minutes, that's what she'd give herself, and with a single seal she split herself from one into many. Ten minutes for Hinata and her Kage Bunshins to clean the entire mansion from top to bottom. Even if she was a simple housewife and mother now, it wasn't like Hinata couldn't set herself challenges all the same!

Nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds later a group of panting Hinatas walked a short distance out of the back door and puffed away into smoke. Another job well done.

In class at the ninja academy, Yume and Iruka were giggling mercilessly. They'd managed to sneak some chakra-activated hair dye from one of the local ninja fashion shops (they could never call it stealing – after all, what business would be upset to aid the children of Konoha's beloved Hokage?) and had just as stealthily applied it to Udon-sensei's curtained hair. All the pair had needed to do then was wait. The beauty of it was that they didn't even need to do anything for the second part of the prank – sooner or later, whether at the behest of another student or of his own accord Udon would use some chakra, and then the fun would be had.

Sure enough, after giving a lecture on the importance of a well-maintained shuriken holster, Udon decided to show the class a new jutsu. Nothing fancy, just a low level enhancement skill. He gathered some chakra and… why was everyone laughing? Had one of the students told a joke? Or perhaps Udon himself had made a mistake of some sort? Whatever could it be?

Wait… why did his hair feel strange? Udon ventured a hand up. It felt the same. He touched it some more. Wait, something was slightly different… something was wrong, definitely. But what?

Udon tried valiantly to carry on with the lesson, but the laughing was really distracting. He hoped whatever was wrong wasn't going to permanently impair his relationship with this class, because nothing was less effective than a teacher who didn't have the respect of his students. He knew something had happened to his hair, but he couldn't afford to stop to find out what exactly. He knew something was wrong, and that one of his students was responsible, and that was all that mattered. The details could wait.

Another few minutes passed, and Udon managed to demonstrate the jutsu without too much trouble. The laughing continued, but it died down somewhat as he got to the real meat of the lesson.

At the back of the class Yume and Iruka exchanged one of their many private looks. Everyone in the room (with the exception of Udon-sensei, of course) knew what had happened with the teacher's hair, but only the two Uzumaki children knew the next part of the fun. The prank was only just beginning.

It was ten minutes since Udon's hair had turned bright red to the second that it happened. He felt a slight rise in the temperature of his head, but nothing else.

Not until the screams started.

The erupted from the girls in the class, and quite a few of the boys as well. The children were shocked by something, and Udon followed their startled, pointing fingers. Something was wrong with him. But what? What?!

That was when he smelled it. Smoke.

His hair was on fire.

Udon-sensei gave a start and ran outside to the teacher's bathroom, where he plunged his flaming head under a tap.

When he returned, several minutes later, once again he was greeted with the mocking laughter of a horde of children. Lesser men would have gone mad at the very sound.

Still, Udon's heart was gladdened to see that two of the children weren't laughing at all. They were the very pictures of angels. Just as he should have expected of the children of Naruto-sensei. Of course his old sensei's children would be more mature than the others their age - that was to be expected. Their dignified and attentive manner warmed Udon's heart and cooled his soot-covered head.

Yume and Iruka had to use every ounce of willpower, every piece every part of their determination just not to crack a smile. Their prank was perfect, from the glass of "water" they'd dropped on Udon's head, to the slow-acting anaesthetic and dye it had contained all the way to the time-delayed fire powder that had been mixed in. Every part of it was perfect. Oh, this one would go down in the legend of the Uzumaki Corps for certain.

Time moved on, and the academy broke up for the day, which meant it was time for their private lessons. Iruka and Yume waited outside the building for their little brother, and then the three of them walked the way to the Hyuuga estate, whiling away the time with a discussion of the day's mischief. As expected Neji was impressed, giving it a whole nine out of ten – very high praise indeed considering it came from the prank master himself.

Walking calmly into one of the most heavily guarded and restricted areas of Konoha, the trio opened the door to the practise area and waved hello to their various distant cousins and other relatives before going to get changed into their uniforms. The Hyuuga clan had very strict rules about what you did and didn't wear when training, and those rules extended to the Uzumakis as long as they were on Hyuuga land.

Their Uncle Neji was conducting the training today, so that was a treat for Uzumaki Neji, who was doted on by the Jounin. It didn't hurt that both Nejis were incredibly talented at the Gentle Fist either.

While this was going on the Hokage was just about reaching the end of his business for the day. And was he ever thankful for that, because nothing could be worse than a day cooped up in his office reading boring reports from boring farmers and boring businessmen. Naruto couldn't wait to get out of the cramped room and stretch his legs for a while. He'd have to schedule a mission for himself pretty soon - he was getting too rusty; his skills might even have deteriorated down to the Genin level!

At least that was how Naruto felt, stuck in his stupid office reading stupid reports.

The second he was done Naruto was gone. The Hiraishin no Jutsu technique that his father had invented was oh so useful for such situations. Not that Naruto had actually ever known his father or even known that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage until he was an adult, but that was a mere detail. He'd always felt like the Fourth was his father even before it was official – he had always been the pinnacle that Naruto looked up to.

Taking Obito with him, Naruto teleported instantly across the village, summoning himself and the child to the seal their house was marked with. It was in an unused room, one that the kids knew better than to mess with.

Hinata felt her husband's presence the moment he arrived, and she dashed downstairs to greet him. He sensed her too, and swept her into his arms for a passionate kiss.

"Love you," he whispered.

"Mmm, not as much as I love you," she returned.

"Want to bet?" A wicked gleam came into Naruto's eye.

"How about we agree to disagree?" Hinata replied, smiling back.

Naruto thought about that for a moment. "Oh, I think I have a much better idea for what we can do."

**Author's Note: This was supposed to be a chapter just about Naruto, but somehow the other Uzumakis crept their way into it, damn them. I hope no one minds about that little fact.**

**It might have been a little confusing because I set it before the main Yume/Iruka storyline began, but I hope it wasn't too hard to follow because of that. Apologies if it was.**

**I reached 400 reviews! Woo! Actually thanks to Grasshopper I'm well over 400 now.**

**Well, I've already stayed up far too long to write this, so I'll bid you all a good morning. Please review, and thank you for reading.**


	31. Chapter 30

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty: Earth Meets Heaven Part One**

_In the last chapter eight Genin passed the preliminaries and made it to the finals. In the month long break they trained hard for the Chuunin Exam Finals, with one very special arrival, by the name of Jiraiya.._

_Those who passed were: Uzumaki Yume, Uzumaki Iruka (Naruto + Hinata), Yuuhi Sakumo (Kurenai), Aikimichi Choumaru (Chouji) Rock Len (Lee + Tenten), Okuta Mai, Hoshigaki Dan and Hoshigaki Ban (nephews of Kisame)._

Choumaru, son of the Aikimichi clan and Genin of Konoha, knew he was in over his head. Just a month before he'd watched this teen annihilate the older brother of his own opponent. He couldn't say that'd he'd actually seen the fight, even though he'd been watching, because it had been over fast. Faster than any fight Choumaru had ever seen, and he was a student of Rock Lee! Rock Lee, supposedly the fastest ninja in the world!

Standing in the arena of the Hidden Sand village beneath crowds and distinguished personages from every country on the continent was little Choumaru, just twelve years old; to say it was overwhelming would be like saying that Choumaru was a little nervous – a massive understatement. And that was when being pretty generous.

"Come on then, Choumaru-san. Shall we start?" Hoshigaki Dan looked confident. Little surprise there.

"Oh-okay, fine with me…" Choumaru did not exactly give the same impression.

Hikaru Ari, the Jounin in charge of the final tournament of the Chuunin Exam looked at both of the Genin in confirmation, and then, using a special jutsu to increase the volume of his voice announced the beginning of the first fight.

Since there were eight Genin taking part in the tournament there would be three rounds – quarter-finals, semi-finals and then the finals themselves. Only one person could win the battle tourney, but in the battle to gain the rank of Chuunin a victory meant nothing. Only proving to the judges that you were worthy of the promotion mattered.

They'd all been given a speech detailing that, that and the true purpose of the Chuunin Exam – competition between the countries without war. In the age of peace, long after the Great Shinobi Wars or even any minor scuffles between the five great ninja countries. The Sand's war against the Stone was long past, and even further past was the most recent of the Leaf's wars with the Cloud.

When Gaara of the Desert, Rokudaime Kazekage of the Sand, sat down next to his best friend – coincidentally the Rokudaime Hokage of the Leaf – the blonde smirked at him. Gaara knew exactly what that smirk meant, oh yes.

Oh yes.

"It's not a fair competition," Gaara said quietly, not averting his eyes from the figures of Choumaru and Dan. Despite the lack in modulation in the Kazekage's voice, despite the steady and completely level tone, Uzumaki Naruto knew exactly what Gaara really meant.

"Sure, it's not fair, but… You've got how many? How many? Oh that's right. None. And I've got… how many have I got? Right, right, two."

"I only had one taking part and you had two." Again Gaara didn't look at the other shinobi, keeping his eyes on the arena.

"And yet both of mine are through. I'm shocked. Shocked."

"Quiet."

"Sore loser?"

"It's starting."

"I knew it, sore loser."

Back down the pit-like building, standing in the middle of the sandy arena, Choumaru's mind was far too busy running supersonic circles round his skull. He was desperately trying to remember the advice Lee-sensei had given him, trying to remember the weeks of hard training and the battle strategies they'd gone over again and again. Nara Kazeko had lost her preliminary match but no student of Rock Lee was going to slack off for a whole month, especially not if they hadn't had any real damage to recuperate from. Uzumaki Iruka had had his own match to prepare for, against the very person who'd given his brunette girlfriend her loss, so his training had been every bit as hard as Choumaru's, but Iruka had only spent half his time with Lee and the rest of the team. He'd had other training to do as well.

Choumaru could see Rock Lee with his mind's eye.

"Choumaru! Remember, your opponent specialises in fast and powerful attacks. You may not be able to match his speed yet, but all you have to do is survive those first few attacks and take advantage of the opening that follows."

Choumaru fixed a chakra pattern in his mind. It was one he and his body were most familiar with, so it wasn't difficult for the rotund Genin.

"Your opponent's strength is also his weakness. If he is used to defeating enemies in just one attack then he will not expect anyone to fight back. He will not know how to react, no matter how well trained he is – nothing compares to the experience of a real battle!"

He breathed deeply, letting precious oxygen flow through his body. The son of the Aikimichi clan would be needing it all too soon, and he knew it.

"Be strong! Let the power of your youth shine freely! Your hard work will surpass any foe!"

Neither of them had made a move for some time, each waiting for the other to begin. Hoshigaki Dan did so with what appeared to be a bored look to his face, gripping his sword loosely with one hand and holding the other pressed against his waist in a casual stance. If Choumaru had thought for a second that Dan even cared remotely about him then he would have thought the teen was mocking him. But he knew that the Mist Swordsman didn't even consider him worth that much as an enemy.

And he was right. Dan was more concerned with what he'd be doing with his prize money than whether Choumaru would last three seconds or five.

The last image to flash into Choumaru's mind was his sensei standing in the nice guy pose. Fire burned in his eyes, and it began.

The moment Dan felt the tiny ripple of chakra from the Leaf-nin, the tiny ripple that signified the beginning of a jutsu, he moved.

Not many watching could follow the movements of Dan. Most of the people watching were not ninjas, and those who were for the most part had little training. Those whose eyes could keep up with his speed saw the huge sword in Dan's hand change, just for a moment.

Beside its size, there was nothing that could really put Dan's sword apart from any other blade. It was big, but it didn't seem to have any defining characteristics. Not like the one his brother carried, with the circles cut from it. But for that moment when he struck, the blade changed. It shone as the light around it refracted in a sharp white glow, and it grew. Like a rope the shining sword swung out, its tip biting at Choumaru. Just as the attack hit Dan shifted his hand and the sword was back in its normal form just like nothing had happened.

The Mist-nin grinned snidely, confident as ever.

At first nothing changed, but with a brutal violence blood spurted from Choumaru's chest. A line was cut so fine in his shirt that it might as well not have been there, but there was nothing fine about the wound Dan had given him. It was as if he had grabbed hold of one of Choumaru's organs and ripped it free. The Leaf Genin dropped to his knees and… disappeared. In his place was a log, or what might have been one before the attack had shredded it.

From behind him Dan sensed the presence of Choumaru again, and his smile widened. To have good enough timing to use the Kawarimi no Jutsu to avoid his attack; it had been a while since Dan had fought anyone good enough to do that. Not that it was enough.

Dan turned and twisted his hand again, and once again his sword flowed out from its normal shape and became something more. But this time he did not stop with one swing of its elastic blade, and the glow could be seen snaking towards Choumaru again and again. But at the same time Choumaru was not simply standing still. He began to grow with his family's traditional Multi-Size no Jutsu. It drew upon the calories stored within an Aikimichi's fat and converted them into chakra, which was then forced back to make the body increase in size dramatically.

With the increase in size came a much greater defence. Even though Dan's sword tip sliced into Choumaru's flesh, it was forced back by the Leaf-nin's rapid growth, and the cuts were too shallow. To counter this Dan pulled back the sword and held the wrist of his right arm in his free hand. Taking a deep breath he pushed forward with all his power, and the blade changed once more. This time it grew much longer just as before but also kept its rigid state. It rocketed forward with great speed, and surely would have impaled Choumaru there and then if he hadn't jumped into the air at just the right time.

Somersaulting into a rapid spin, Choumaru began the Meat Tank no Jutsu, his family's Taijutsu style, and now when he fell onto Dan's still-stretched out sword it did not cut, and instead white-hot sparks flew from the white-glowing blade.

The mood of Hoshigaki Dan at that moment could easily be summed up with a single word: shocked. Someone that weak shouldn't be able to resist his attacks! He'd seen this little fat boy fight before, and he was nothing! He should be dead! He should be dead!

His rhythm was broken, though Dan didn't realise it. The twelve-year-old ball of fat and muscle rolled towards him at great speed, and the Mist Swordsman only barely dodged it. His blue cloak rippled from the wind, its edges torn jagged by the chakra-powered tank's passage.

Dan didn't understand how Choumaru had gotten so strong. It didn't make any sense at all. Why was he suddenly so fast that he, the strongest of all Mist's Genins, the eldest son of the legendary Mizukage, could barely dodge an attack? It didn't make any sense. He was Hoshigaki Dan, the youngest person to ever become one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen!

What he didn't realise was that Choumaru hadn't gotten stronger. He hadn't gotten faster. The answer was something different altogether.

Choumaru circled from his narrow miss and, still the giant ball, headed unswervingly for Dan once again without missing a proverbial step. He couldn't see it, but there was a glimmer of fear in his opponent's eyes at his oncoming approach

Again, just as Choumaru was about to impact with him Dan dodged. At that time his fear was practically palpable in the air around him. And that fear was not misplaced, because even if it was just a glancing blow he was soundly hit. But with that hit came something else. Like lightning running through him, he came to the understanding of what was wrong and everything changed.

He had fallen. His jump to dodge would have landed him safely, but he had been hit when he was in mid-air, and so he fell. His sword was knocked out of his hand, and it lay there just out of his reach. But he could only laugh.

Hoshigaki Dan picked himself up from the ground and did the same for his sword. As the thundering form of the transformed Choumaru approached for the third time, Dan let himself laugh a little.

"I get it now. You did well to push me this far, but I understand it now. You weren't stronger. I was weaker."

He gripped his sword again, this time with both hands on the hilt. He was a tall boy for a fifteen year old, which made him very tall compared to the other competitors, but his sword still looked out of place in his hands. It looked too big for him, and it probably was - as a Mist Swordsman he was a rookie.

But as a Genin he was a pro.

He plunged his sword into the sand of the arena floor, and it began to glow once more. No one could see any change in it from above the surface, because everything was happening down below it. Dan held it almost vertically and planted his feet. He put his full weight and his full strength behind his sword, just in time for it to be met by the sheer force that was Aikimichi Choumaru.

Dan grunted at the strain, but did not relent. He was strong enough to bear it. That had been his revelation – when Choumaru's Meat Tank had hit him, he'd realised that it didn't hurt. Not like when his uncle punched him in training. It hadn't hurt nearly enough to stop him, which had meant that this Leaf-nin was not enough to beat him.

As he pushed back against Choumaru Dan angled his sword towards himself, lifting it up beneath the round body of his opponent. Before the younger boy could react Dan had lifted him into the air, his sword changing into a more rounded shape to hold the Meat Tank. But it only held him for a split-second, because that was all the time before Dan flexed his shoulder and back muscles, spun his lower body and flung Choumaru far away.

Ari, the Jounin Examiner, examined the now-prone form of Choumaru and raised his right hand high to the air. "Winner, Hoshigaki Dan!" he declared to all those watching from the audience.

Up above the arena and the crowd, Naruto bent his head to the side and murmured something to Gaara. "I knew that he had reformed, but this Dan kid… any relation? It can't be a coincidence that he comes from the Mist and has that name."

"His nephew, and student," Gaara answered.

"He's… strong."

"Not as strong as we were at that age though."

"True." Naruto looked at his friend quizzically. "But that's not exactly important, is it?"

"It is merely a statement of fact."

"I suppose…" Naruto's voice trailed off, chuckling a little soundlessly.

Gaara pointed and Naruto's attention was fixed back on the arena, "Isn't that Iruka?"

The moment the fight had ended and Choumaru had lain there not moving, there were three places where people began to move. One was where the medic-nins stood ready at the edge of the arena; the second was in the stands where his sensei Rock Lee and teammate Nara Kazeko had been sitting; and the third was the special stand for competitors, where one Uzumaki Iruka had been watching and cheering his friend on. Until that friend fell and didn't get up. That had been a cue for those medic-nins to run with their stretcher; for Lee to get up from his seat and run to the edge of the balcony for a closer look, dragging along Kazeko in his nervous wake; and for Iruka to agilely jump down to the arena and head for as close a look as was possible.

"Chou! Choumaru! Can you hear me?" Iruka spoke not quite shouting, not wanting to disturb his friend if he was too badly hurt, but almost desperate to hear the other boy's voice. The medic-nins made it to Choumaru just before Iruka did, and they were there as well to hear him moan slightly.

"Iruka…? Is… that you…?"

"Hey hey! You're alright buddy!" Iruka was all smiles as the stretcher carrying his friend was taken away, but as the figures disappeared into the medical centre that smile took on a different quality. It went from warm and caring look to a sly look, a slight hint of eagerness. With the first fight done with, it was time for the second to begin. Time for Iruka to shine.

Anticipation flowed through him with a wave of heat. His skin flushed and his heart beat faster, blood longing for battle. The heat followed with a cold, and Iruka shivered slightly as he watched his opponent walk out from the side entrance of the arena and to the centre of the circular arena. Finally as his eyes met hers the heat and cold came together, and Iruka's mind and body became calm, knowing the tranquillity of the moment before the storm of combat began.

"So what is this going to be, Iruka?" Her words were a taunt, and they both knew it.

"What do you think?" His gaze was unwavering, his determination clearly the same.

"Is it revenge for your little girlfriend?" Okuta Mai asked him. "Are you planning on beating me up because that bitch couldn't manage it?"

Iruka's arm pointed out, his finger aiming straight at Mai's heart like the deadliest of weapons. "You won't repeat those words."

Mai could feel a hidden meaning in those words. His arm was not just an arm, his finger not just a finger. They were sheathed in energy and emotion, and they were sharp enough to kill her where she stood. And Uzumaki Iruka's eyes were no less sharp and no less deadly.

"If you repeat them, then I won't care what happens to you.

"No one talks about my precious people like that. And especially not her."

She felt a pulse emanate from Iruka's body, and with it she could see those pale eyes of his change and sharpen even further as his blood limit activated.

From a distance away, Ari examined both of the Genin. Grudges weren't rare between Genin taking part in the Chuunin exam – children fighting so hard at such young ages, would inevitably lead to bitterness and anger and deadly rage. They didn't always have the control over their emotions that came with age and experience. He raised a hand and brought it down in an axe motion, and with that the fight was on.

The second it began Iruka leapt into the air and let loose a handful of shuriken. As Mai dodged them effortlessly, Iruka crossed his fingers and created four Kage Bunshins. Two of the clones pushed off against their partners and dived at the blonde Sand-nin, razor-sharp kunai in their hands.

Mai back-flipped to avoid the initial attack. As her bare hands left contact with the sand she grabbed a handful of it, and when she righted herself she tossed that handful in a wide arc at the eyes of the two Kage Bunshins.

The clones stumbled forward, heading for Mai using their other senses. Even with the Byakugan they couldn't see in front of them with their eyes full of the grit. It wouldn't have been a problem considering the real Iruka could control them just as easily, but that window of time gave Mai her chance to dispatch them with a skilful punch-kick combo. There didn't seem to be much force in her blows, but almost as soon as her bare hands and feet touched the clones they were dispelled. The same was true of the other two Kage Bunshins despite the way they'd attacked from different directions. Mai had handled them so well it was almost as if she had the Byakugan helping her as well.

The kunoichi stuck her tongue out at Iruka, taunting him, and for his response Iruka gave a wordless, angry shout, and suddenly from all around stood nearly twenty clones of the Leaf shinobi. They swiftly surrounded Mai, but she just stood still and let them come. When they advanced she still didn't move – not even a muscle. With the exception of her mouth, that is.

"Not going to work on me, loser." Mai's words came just as the first wave of Irukas jumped at her, their fists flying straight… through her. "I know they're just plain old Bunshins, so there's no point trying."

As the second group approached Mai ran straight through them, destroying each of the Bunshins as she did. The real Iruka stood behind the clones in a battle-ready stance, waiting. When Mai got close, Iruka pulled back his hand as if to punch her, but instead pulled a kunai out from a hidden shoulder holster and threw it straight at the blonde kunoichi's face. She dodged, but he reflexes weren't fast enough to get her out of harm's way quite in time, considering the small distance between the two of them. And the blade sliced through her left cheek, leaving a fine line of red blood.

Growling, Okuta Mai came to a halt as she slammed her foot down at the sandy ground. Even though it was still some distance from Iruka, the sand rippled in a wave and knocked him off balance. Iruka tried to regain his footing, but it was to no avail and he fell backwards, arms flailing in the air, where it was his opponent herself who caught his wrists. She smiled sweetly, and then squeezed him, just gently. There was no force behind it, but instantly Iruka felt a change inside him. His stomach roiled from side to side to up to down and every direction. He felt suddenly and violently ill.

Iruka tried to kick Mai's hands away, but she flipped him over and the internal spasms intensified. Reapplying her grip to one of his wrists, she held it back past his head. She spoke as Iruka tried to get his churning organs under control.

"Want to know why I hate her? No one wants me here. I see their disappointment – my team has the son of Kazekage-sama, the son of Kankurou-dono, and for third they had to settle for me. Everyone thinks that I took her place. Because she's the daughter of everyone's beloved Temari-sama."

Iruka knelt over, clutching his heaving stomach.

"You should be familiar with my strategy here. You can't train your internal organs, and I can attack them directly just like you."

Mai spat at the back of Iruka's head.

"Wind is motion, kinetic energy. By some quirk of my body or training or something whenever I try and create a blast of wind it doesn't work. Don't know why exactly, but instead that kinetic energy works for me a little differently. Maybe poor old orphan Mai, poor abandoned baby me is more like you than you think. You don't even know how lucky you are, do you?

"But that doesn't matter right now, because you've lost, because I can do this. The same way someone else can turn their chakra into wind, I, can do this."

More chakra pulsed into Iruka's body from Mai's hand. An erratic tattoo that was shaking and disturbing and rippling through him. Struggling he pushed away at the blonde girl, but she just increased the power she was pouring into his body.

With her free hand Mai pulled out a kunai and held it to the side of Iruka's face. She pressed it slightly into his cheek, drawing blood. "An eye for an eye, brat."

A gasping laugh came from the throat of Iruka. "Don't… think… you've won… yet." He pulled away from Mai's grasp, struggling with everything his body had. It wasn't enough, and Mai just pulled back against him. But there was more to Iruka than just his body – he was an Uzumaki, which meant that he had plenty of chakra in there as well. That cool power inside him gave him more and more strength, and soon Mai was pulling with everything she had. The contest of strength had become important to her, because if there was anything she wanted in the world it was to prove herself. And Iruka knew exactly that fact, which is why at the peak of their struggle when both of them were using everything they had, Iruka simply disappeared; he disappeared into a small cloud of smoke, and that meant that all that force Mai had been directing backwards had to go somewhere.

With more strength being used than her human body would normally be able to produce, she was flung back with more force than should ever have acted against her frail human form. This was the cue for the kunai Iruka – or rather the Iruka Kage Bunshin - had thrown at Mai earlier to transform into Iruka and dash with superhuman speed towards her. The kunai had been thrown in the same direction that Mai was now flying, so Iruka didn't have far to run, but what distance there was he crossed in nearly no time at all. He was a student of Rock Lee after all – his speed was among the highest of all the Leaf's Genin.

Iruka jumped into the air, meeting Mai with a flying kick. Adding his momentum to hers meant for a powerful blow. When they both landed, Iruka moved in and jabbed his fist at her in rapid succession until she fell.

"Pfft," he said, breathing steadily and slowly. Her breaths were shallow and fast. "Don't whine to me. So you've been unlucky. Doesn't mean there's anything stopping you from succeeding. My dad started with nothing and now he's Hokage.

"If all you do is take out your anger on others then you'll never get what you want."

She tried to speak, but couldn't. Her voiceless gasps were totally incomprehensible, but the expression on her face was message enough.

"Don't bother. When you have the decency to apologise then I'll be waiting. Both of us will."

"Winner, Uzumaki Iruka!"

The crowd loved him, cheering and applauding as loud as they could. But from nowhere were the cheers as loud as those coming from the dark-haired boy's father.

"WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! GOOOOO IRUUUUUUUKAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

"Naruto, do you not you agree that a Kage should be more refined?" Gaara had a slight curve to his mouth.

Naruto brought his exultation to a sudden stop and turned his head to face his friend.

"Eh?"

"We are the leaders of our people. Would it not be better for us to live as an example to them in both our power and our dignity?"

Naruto stared at Gaara for a while, a confused and questioning look on his face.

"Eh?"

"I said--"

"I heard you. It just didn't make any sense. You've… your wife has been telling you things again, hasn't she?"

Gaara hung his head. "She is very persuasive."

"Well, more importantly, come and cheer Iruka with me!"

Naruto clapped his arm around Gaara's shoulder and picked himself and the Kazekage up, walking him to the edge of the grand viewing box. "Now, on three. One. Two… Three!"

Naruto cheered louder than before, cheating with a touch of chakra to make his applause louder than anyone else's. Of course for Naruto a touch of chakra was quite a considerable amount by anyone else's standards but that was irrelevant, because what was important was the noise being produced by Gaara. Or rather the lack of noise, because he had given a very, very, very quiet ovation. So quiet, in fact, as to possibly be considered silent.

Needless to say, Naruto was less than impressed. Once a suitable opportunity arose (or in other words, once he needed to take a breath) he turned his head again, to face his friend again. "Oooh, you owe me now. A cheer isn't enough anymore. Right now, right here, giant sand congratulations."

"What did you say?"

"Giant sand congratulations. Big letters. Nice font."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. I refuse."

"Then you should have cheered."

"It is unfair to the other Genin."

That one stopped Naruto for a second. "Hmm, I suppose. But you owe me."

Their haggling might have continued, but it was time for the next match to start and this was one that they both wanted very, very much to watch. Naruto because he was excited to see his baby daughter in her first ever Chuunin Exam, and Gaara because he had his keen eye on the Mist-nin who was her opponent.

The third fight didn't need any time to warm up. Almost before it began Uzumaki Yume dashed at her opponent, with five Kage Bunshins running right there alongside her. Not to be discouraged, Hoshigaki Ban grit his teeth and stood his ground. As the first clone came into his range, the Mist boy dropped his sword into the sand and with a slight rush of speed let out a killer shoulder tackle. The clone was sent flying backwards past the others before disappearing into smoke.

"Not using that sword of yours, huh? You'll regret that!" Yume shouted.

Taking the offensive Ban leapt at the closest of the Yumes with a curving punch, but the blonde girl sacrificed her own attack and grabbed hold of the Mist-nin's arm, using her full weight to pull him off-balance. With that small window another Yume made an open-handed thrust at Ban's left side.

The Gentle Fist style of the Hyuuga clan is not a Taijutsu style designed to knock out an enemy or cause minimal damage. No, it is a most lethal and most dangerous way of fighting. A Hyuuga has to be trained for years in anatomy and control before they even get a chance to learn their first forms. It is a style that can kill or defeat an enemy in a single blow, should you be able to land it. Yume might not have been a true Hyuuga, but she'd trained just as hard as any of her distant cousins. She only needed one good hit to turn a fight to her favour.

Unfortunately, landing that one good hit was going to be a lot harder than she'd hoped it would be. Instead of touching Ban's body with her palm and driving chakra into it, her strike was stopped dead by just a single power-infused finger.

Ban's feet were placed far apart on the sand; his body leaning painfully. One Yume held onto his right arm, pulling it down and away, while another had just tried to hit him with a Gentle Fist blow. Two more were running at the little group fast. It was not an ideal stance to say the least – just remaining standing was an achievement. Ban experimented, wasting a second on working something out. He tried to lift his right arm but the Kage Bunshin was holding fast to the ground, using chakra to adhere to the sand floor of the arena.

He had to admit, she was pretty good. Just not good enough. With a roar and an unforeseen might Ban swung his right arm up, ripping the clone away from the ground and slamming her into her twin. The two vanished together as Ban spun on his feet a little trying to regain his balance before the last of the Yumes attacked.

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back, Ban sized up the distance between him and the final two clones. Pushing his mass down on his left and spinning again – this time on his own volition – Ban kicked the closest Yume. The blow pushed her back, flipping her around and down to the sand. She didn't disappear.

"So that's the real you then? No point playing with dolls anymore then…" Ban laughed and casually elbowed the final charging Kage Bunshin, knocking the kunai out of her hand.

"Get up!" the Mist Swordsman shouted. "Or are you Leaf guys all this pathetic? You've lasted a little longer than that fat ass my bro dealt with earlier, I suppose, but I haven't even used my sword yet!"

Hoshigaki Ban's eyes widened and he took a reflexive step backwards. The reason was because the collapsed body of Uzumaki Yume had just exploded into air, meaning by process of elimination the Kage Bunshin Ban had just disarmed and shoved away was nothing of the sort, and it was right next to him.

With one cross-fingered seal that Yume – the real Yume all along – created a good ten Kage Bunshins and swarmed on Ban.

It was over in seconds. In just one moment the loser was sent flying backwards while the winner of the exchange looked on. The Mist Genin smirked as the Kage Bunshins disappeared just as quickly as they'd been formed, and he held his head-cleaver sword out with his hand low, the blade running across his body.

"My sword, Saigen, will always come to my hand when I call it. Don't think that just because I'm not holding it that I'm at a disadvantage. I am one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen! You will never be as strong as me!"

On the other side of the arena floor Yume picked herself up slowly, and did a few simple stretches, wincing as her bruised body moved a little too fast and too far for its liking.

"It's true, you're stronger than me. And you're faster than me. I can't keep up. But…"

She clapped her hands together.

"…not for long!"

Chakra exploded from Yume's body, in what was a very impressive display of power for a Genin. The Mist Swordsman's lip curved. "I thought I was supposed to be impressed?"

Yume opened her mouth to scream. "I'm just getting started!"

The entire arena filled with smoke, and much of the audience had to cough. One extremely prestigious member chose to laugh, instead though.

The smoke cleared gradually, but Ban was already in motion. He rushed blade in hand through the cloud slashing at his targets. The audience could see Kage Bunshins filling every inch of the circular arena, and that wasn't all they could see – there was a blue whirlwind moving through the throng of clones like death itself.

Ban's mouth was in a full smile now. If this was the Leaf girl's best then she was nothing to him. The slightest obstacle standing between him and his Chuuninhood, no matter her determination.

Over a quarter of the Kage Bunshin had been ripped apart by the time Ban felt something was wrong. Nearly half were gone when he realised exactly what it was.

He slowed to a stop, his blade flying back to his strong grip. None of the Kage Bunshin were moving, which meant they were nothing but… What the hell was that?!

Cold sweat formed on Hoshigaki Ban's forehead even before he truly sensed it, his body acting on long-forgotten human instinct. Whatever it was, it was like nothing he'd ever felt before, nothing he'd ever wanted to feel or even dreaded he would. Something that didn't, that shouldn't, that just couldn't exist in his world of cleanly defined and clearly stated beliefs. He wouldn't accept it! He calmed his quivering arms and tightened his grip on his sword. He could do it. He could do it. He could…

Ban's eyes met Yume's.

He had a keen memory, honed through years of hard work and harder training from his uncle. He remembered Uzumaki Yume's eyes perfectly. They were white. A whole eye of white. No iris. No pupils. Just white, with the slightest hint of blue. But even though you couldn't see anything but that white, something about those eyes spoke deep to your soul of warmth. The Byakugan blood limit might seem like something freakish that no real human should ever have, but no one could look into Yume's white eyes and doubt her humanity or the depth of her soul.

But those weren't Yume's eyes.

They weren't white eyes, or blue.

And they were not human.

Ban's body couldn't move. Internally he screamed at himself to move, budge, RUN!

They maintained eye contact. The seconds dragged with the intensity of the battle, seeming never to end. Yume's eyes weren't white anymore. A deep black line pierced the orb through its centre from top to bottom, and out from that dark pupil shone a burning star of red. Uneven white flecked the edges of her eye, but it was that mixture of demon red and evil black which held the Mist-nin frozen dead.

It was only practice that saved Ban from that first hit. Those years of hard work forced his arm up, just long enough for his guard to be blown away. For just under a second Ban's full strength pushed back against Yume's open palm before his arm and the rest of him was forced back. It happened just slowly enough for Ban to notice the claws that had somehow grown from the girl's hand.

"I'm stronger than you," the words came from all around the Mist-nin, with each word in the sentence seeming to come from a different direction. "And guess what else?"

The huge sword dropped to the sand floor of the arena, and Ban looked down at it in confusion. He tried to move his hand… but nothing happened. He tried to duck down and use his other arm to lift his weapon… but again nothing happened. His whole body was frozen, paralysed. Why?

In front of him the figure of Uzumaki Yume shimmered into sight again. "I'm faster too. I just disrupted half the muscles in your body and you didn't even notice."

Those eyes of a demon were still there, scaring the older boy to the depths of his soul, but this time they faded away back to the clear, pure white. The whisker lines on Yume's face thinned and lightened as well, and the aura of power and fear dissipated. Ban felt like for the first time in hours he could breathe again. Like his heart could start beating.

Yume stepped forward slowly, and as she reached her opponent she turned her head to the Jounin referee and grinned. "I win, right?" With one hand she pushed at Ban's chest, and he fell.

"Winner, Uzumaki Yume!"

Yume jumped and danced around the arena floor, still filled with the same energy and life as from before the fight. There weren't many cheers or much applause for the daughter of the Hokage and her victory.

"Wasn't that…?" Gaara turned to his friend, the end of the question left spoken in his eyes.

Naruto could only nod. His eyes were filled only with pain. It was something words could never express – years of loneliness and anguish contained in just that pair of blue eyes and that great heart.

"Of all the things she could have inherited from me…"

Gaara put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Life is never easy."

"But it should be easier for them. Easier than it was for us."

"It is."

All of a sudden Naruto's entire body seemed to change, as if someone had turned a switch in his personality. A wicked grin appeared on his face, and he turned his head to face Gaara.

"Wasn't that Hoshigaki boy the one who beat your kid?"

Gaara paused. This was most definitely not where he wanted the conversation to go, but on the other hand he felt an obligation to do his best to raise Naruto's spirits.

"It was."

"Sooooo," Naruto started, grin widening even further. "Doesn't that mean my Yume beat the guy your Jinsei couldn't?"

Gaara wanted to be there for Naruto, it was just – did he have to make it so difficult?

"I suppose so," he concluded, after an excruciating moment of thought

"So, doesn't that mean you should admit you lost and I won?"

Gaara paused again. Oh, why did Naruto have to be like that? Couldn't he leave Gaara alone? Didn't Gaara deserve that much? Poor, poor Gaara.

Finally, after weighing up his options (limited though they were - as much as Gaara wanted to, fleeing and/or killing Naruto were not viable solutions to this problem) Gaara opened his mouth for one very brief, very terse "Quiet."

Naruto burst into laughter. Victory was sweet. So very sweet.

The final battle of this Chuunin Exam's quarter-finals started somewhere between when Naruto started laughing and when he stopped. Of course that covered a good seven minutes or so,

Since there were only eight Genin taking part in this final event, by process of elimination it would have been simple to work out who was fighting in the last match of the first round. But then neither of these two were expected to do well.

They had no great records. They were not the children of Hokages or Mizukages. They were the children of elite Leaf Jounins, but not famous or infamous ones – no Sannin or White Fangs or Copy Nins in their lineage, just hard-working, well-respected Konoha shinobi. They weren't even being given good odds by the various assembled bookies, official or underground.

It was only among their peer group that they were accorded any value at all. Up a small height from the arena, in the fighter box, Iruka held a money note out in front of him. "Twenty on Len."

"Hah!" Yume rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a slightly more grubby version of the same note. "I'll take that bet. No way Sakumo will lose – he beat Sazashi, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but no way Lee-sensei's son will be that easy to take down."

"We'll see." Yume started chuckling, and before long both of them were laughing as hard as they could. Afterwards, when they were catching their breath, Yume said something softly to Iruka.

"Chuunin Exams sure are fun, aren't they?"

"That they are. See you in the finals?"

"See you in the finals. That is, assuming you can beat Len."

"Heh," Yume said, punching her little brother gently in the arm.

Unlike the other Genin, when Len and Sakumo walked out for their fight they did it together, right next to each other, right the way to the middle of the arena. When they were there, they turned to face each other and Sakumo held out his hand. Len took it with a swinging, excited motion, and they smiled. "Good fight?"

"I would not have any other! But I warn you, I will not hold back. The burning power of my heart and my work will surely bring me the victory. I hope there will not be any hard feelings when I win, my friend."

"Oh there won't." They both grinned.

The Examiner waved his hands at them both and said simply, with a quiet smile "Begin."

Both of the boys looked the other in the eyes, and as if they'd practised it made mirror-image movements. Both of them ran to their left, throwing three shuriken at where their friend had been standing. Sakumo's shuriken hit Len's perfectly, and the Leaf-nin pair disappeared.

Just as fast as they had vanished they reappeared, still as mirror images of each other. For this second exchange they matched off with kicks, their legs crossing high in the air. Sakumo grimaced. "What do you have in there?"

"I could say the same. Great form."

Sakumo jumped backwards and threw a kunai in one smooth motion. "I had a good teacher."

Len spun in a jump and kicked the kunai far away, where it exploded in a fireball. "Yes, Konohamaru-san is a pride to our fair village." He skidded in the uncertain footing of the sand ground where he landed and set off fast towards Sakumo.

"Oh, yeah, him too," Sakumo replied, matching Len's speed with his retreat.

On the surface the two boys could hardly be more different, but they'd been friends for a long time. Len wore bright green spandex with orange ankle warmers, Sakumo dark black clothes with metallic armour on his arms and shoulders. While they both wore their head protectors where they were designed to be worn – surprisingly, on the forehead – Sakumo's had a pretty major difference compared to Len's. His whole head of hair was covered by the hat it was part of – at least assuming he had any hair, because no one had ever seen it that the rest of the Rookie Nine knew of. This was in some ways a contrast to Len's bowl cut, but when it came down to it they both had something round and black covering their head.

Sakumo was reserved, an introvert, and if you managed to pierce through that shell he had a core of deep sadness. Len, on the other hand, was bright and exuberant, always filled with life, and to call him an extrovert was to make one hell of an understatement. Maybe there wasn't anything hidden inside him, but just like his father that kindness and energy went as deep as could be.

Sakumo hurled another kunai at the feet of Len, and the green-clad Genin jumped away to the side to avoid the explosion, leading his opponent to come to a halt and throw some more of his weapons. Len's eyes widened with fear for just a moment before his arms blurred, giving the audience the impression he had far more than four limbs. The exploding note-attached kunai were deflected back at their owner, only for their charge to run out too early, exploding while they were halfway between the two ninjas.

The wave of hot air from the blast buffeted Sakumo back, but he held his ground by crossing his arms in a guard and planting his feet. The smoke only masked Len's movements for just a moment, but for someone as fast as he was just a moment was just enough.

The kick came from below, and its overpowering force, armour or no armour, blew the Yuuhi boy's guard away. Sakumo was thrown up in the air, and before he could react he was grabbed from behind and thrown even harder towards the ground. At the speed he'd been moving the sand felt more like concrete. If in the time Sakumo had taken to come to his senses and pull himself up Len had attacked he would definitely have been knocked out or worse. As he straightened up his bruised body Sakumo wondered why exactly it was that he hadn't been. When he caught sight of his friend he understood.

"The Initial Lotus, right?"

Len nodded, his breathing ragged and his body sore. "You really have been taught well, haven't you?

"You're tougher than I thought you'd be."

Sakumo smiled weakly. "Feeling's mutual." He pulled out some kunai from one of his pouches. "This again?" Len asked with a pained laugh. He stretched his legs.

Two kunai sliced through the air at Rock Len, but just by ducking he avoided them easily and raised his eyebrow at the other two Sakumo was holding. "It's not going to work this time either."

"Maybe not," he said, holding one in each hand. "I might as well throw them away!" Spinning to face the opposite direction, he launched the two weapons away. It seemed like a futile gesture, and Len cocked his head in amusement, right up until his expression changed to surprise.

The two kunai from before had returned, being pulled by the thin, almost invisible wires attached to the second pair, but more importantly there was the cable tying them together and wrapping them round Len's orange ankles. Sakumo grabbed hold of the wires from his end and pulled as hard as he could, and Len fell. His legs were pulled forward and his back slammed into the sand floor of the arena.

Sliding his hands up the wires but still holding them, Sakumo moved on towards his opponent until he was standing almost over him.

"Give up?" He asked. Len struggled. As he made a show of trying to push his body up and free from the snare his hand snuck towards a pouch. "Uh uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. One charge of chakra from me, and those explosive notes will detonate. Give up Len."

"Fine, I know when I am beaten." He raised his hand in the air as high as he could, considering he was on his back. "I give up."

With that, and the cheers of the amassed crowds, the fight was over. Sakumo bent down and sliced Len free, and the son of Rock Lee bounded to his feet, still filled with energy. His first action of freedom was to dive on his friend and knock him to the ground. This wasn't an attack, but an embrace of congratulation, and Sakumo knew the difference from how Len laughed cheerfully. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment and the red-eyed teen pushed the other boy away. "Get off me, you useless lump! Off! Off!"

Sakumo pushed Len off him and got to his feet. Len followed suit, but as he did he caught sight of the wires and kunai that had caught him. "Hey, wait a minute. There's no explosive note on those!"

Sakumo's mouth curved, and he gave a short laugh. "Worked didn't it?"

Up high above Naruto looked on at the arena, grinning. "Those kids are just as good as I'd expect." Gaara nodded his head appreciatively, "It is a shame that the son of Lee could not win in his first Exam. It would have been most fitting."

"We'll just have to settle for one of mine doing it instead then. Oh, what a shame. What a shame indeed." Naruto shook his head in mock grief. "What a shame."

Gaara looked at him. "Quiet."

**Author's Note: Man I suck. It's been forever since I updated, I realise that. There are a bunch of reasons, though you might not care. I took a holiday (I don't mean a holiday from writing, I mean an actual holiday), I had a major, major, major case of writer's block, and my life has been really depressing lately. See I had to… wait a second, this isn't a blog. I'm not going to whine here, so just accept my accept my apology.**

**It may not make up for the wait very much, but at least this is the longest chapter to date. I hope you enjoyed it. I know it's not the best chapter by any means, but I put hours and hours of work into it.**

**So please review. I need to be cheered up! Heh, I just want to know that people are still reading this, because part of me feels like giving up. This chapter was so hard to write that I really considered doing that a lot of times. I suck at action chapters so much I know, I know.**

**Review!**

**Thanks for reading.**


	32. Chapter 31

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-One: Good and the Bad**

For every good day there must inevitably be a bad. It's simply the way of the world.

Sometimes a good day for one person just has to be a bad day for another, if only to balance things out.

Today was a good day for Hinata. It was almost time for her first date with Naruto. That is if you were using Naruto's system of counting, which totally ignored the two picnics they'd… coincidentally… had. It had been after those two days they'd spent together that Naruto had managed to work out that he liked Hinata and work up the nerve to ask her out, and the moment had been just about the best in her sixteen year long life.

On the other hand, today was definitely, definitely a bad day for Naruto.

It wasn't as if he wasn't looking forward to seeing Hinata and going to the fancy restaurant or anything like that, it was just that the date was in the evening. Naruto had had an entire day of crappy, awful, terrible stuff happening to him before then.

He stood in front of his apartment, covered in mud and with his hair horribly uneven. He reached into the pocket of his filthy jacket, but sighed when he realised there was nothing in there.

Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing on the other side of the door. "God bless the Shunshin," he said in a tired, exhausted tone. "At least something went right today."

That was when he slipped on some of the mud from his shoes.

After spending a few minutes lying on the floor of his apartment, pondering why the universe hated him, Naruto picked himself up and stared into a mirror. He was looking for anything, anything he could recognize in himself.

There was nothing. Nothing!

He needed to change everything, and change it quick. There were only a few hours until his date with Hinata, and there was no way he wanted that to go wrong. Of course he recognized the fact that based on how his day had gone so far there was really no chance that it would go well. Still, he was Uzumaki Naruto and he never gave up!

Naruto stripped off his filthy and torn clothes and threw them into a messy pile in the middle of the floor. As he stood naked in the room he had the peculiar sensation of being watched. He turned his head slowly, oh so slowly, until he could see outside his window. His very, very open window. His very, very open window through which his neighbours could see everything in his apartment - including the very, very naked Naruto.

It was a good thing in some ways that it wasn't an old man or woman, because they could have hurt themselves from the shock. And in some ways it was a good thing that the woman watching was young and attractive. But Naruto was already up to his blushing ears in propositions from her, and this was just going to make things worse. So much worse.

Still, at least someone was happy about it.

Blushing terribly, Naruto dashed over at super speed and closed the curtains. In doing so he filled the room with chakra, including the pile on the floor containing his clothes and weapons.

It was a million to one chance. Naruto carried explosive notes with him, of course, and the notes are very well designed. They're only supposed to go off if you charge them with a very specific chakra signature. The chance that one would go off from a low-level ambient chakra source is, well, a million to one.

It really wasn't Naruto's day.

The problem wasn't really that Naruto's clothes exploded but more that most of his kunai and shuriken had been in the pile along with them. They were sent flying in every direction, and Naruto had to stretch his abilities to the limit to catch them. He formed a mass of Kage Bunshins to catch most of them with their bodies, and picked the rest of them out of the air himself. Of course he only had two hands, and there were a lot of deadly weapons in the air, which inevitably lead to him missing one.

That last kunai flew straight out of Naruto's living room, and into another room, where it pierced the heart of Naruto's most treasured possession.

He stumbled into the room, dropping everything he was carrying, as his eyes grew wide.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

His last cup ramen was gone.

Steaming with rage and boiling with anger, Naruto stepped into his shower and pulled the curtain closed tight. Of course he probably should have done it slightly less tightly, because then he might not have pulled it clean off the rail.

Naruto's eye twitched.

Grumbling, Naruto turned the shower on, and his red-hot rage became cool – just as cool as the water coming out of his showerhead. Naruto screamed. It was one half shock from the ice-cold water and three halves immense, inarticulate rage.

"Oh, I hate you world. I hate you so much. If only I had massive, cosmic amounts of power to wreak my terrible vengeance on you.

"Wait a second… I do have massive, cosmic amounts of power! MWAHAHAHA! World, you have met your match!"

Naruto laughed maniacally, and a terrible crimson aura surrounded his body, roaring out like flames and engulfing everything in the room.

In mid-laugh, with his hands raised to the sky (or at least the ceiling) Naruto came to a sudden stop. "Crap, I can't do that. Damn. Well, at least I can get a good…" Naruto sighed. "Cold shower." He sighed again. "Hey, hold on a second, I'm an all-powerful super ninja! I can just make some hot water!" His hands spun in a complex series of hand seals, and…

… that, that was when the apartment flooded. Oh, it was not a good day for Uzumaki Naruto. No it was not. Definitely not.

For two whole minutes Naruto stared at his floor, stared at it through the three feet of hot water that covered the entire apartment floor plan. After those two minutes Naruto realised that he did not, in fact, live on the ground floor of the building. Which meant that these two feet of water weren't going to stick around - they were going to seep. They were going to seep right through his floor and into his neighbour's apartment. And that was not a good thing, not for Naruto or for Mrs. Tanaka downstairs either.

Luckily just like Naruto could make water appear out of chakra and thin air he could also make it disappear into that same thin air. It was quite simple actually. All it took was a heat or fire jutsu to evaporate the water and… damn! That would just make things worse.

Naruto's mind worked quickly and soon he thought of an alternative solution. This sort of thing was where he really shone. No one had a mind more filled with crazy and creative idea than him, and this one was no less creative and no less crazy.

First he formed some more Kage Bunshins. They swam out through the water to various key points in the apartment. Next, each of them climbed the walls of the rooms they were in by adhering to them with chakra, and in both of their hands spun their remaining chakra.

This was a little different from the regular Rasengan. While normally it was a ball made of a contained tornado, these instead moved the air to create a vacuum. With them the Narutos could suck the water up from the floor, and with some clever chakra control force it along the chain of clones and towards the drain, where it could happily flow away from Naruto and his poor, poor home.

It was a brilliant success! For the first two feet anyway, because when they got down to the final third things got a little harder because of how far away the remaining water was. Not to be out done however the Narutos climbed onto the ceiling and stuck themselves there as well. Perfect.

With the water gone and only a moderately soggy apartment it was time for Naruto to move on to the next problem. He was clean, and while wet that wasn't much of a problem. He reached into a cupboard for some towels, and starting with his head he… damn. His hair.

Naruto looked in a mirror for the second time that afternoon. Now at least he wasn't all covered in mud, but there was still the problem of his hair.

Not two hours ago Naruto had had a fine head of hair: blonde and spiky and healthy looking. Now he had soggy, patchy tufts of unkempt and uneven mess. And this wasn't a problem he could solve with a simple jutsu.

Well, actually it was. The Henge could fix it just fine, or he could modify the Spines of the Underworld which Jiraiya had taught him to grow it back out, but the former would be a strain to keep going for the whole night and the latter, well, Naruto decided he'd done enough jutsu modification for the day. No, it was time for drastic measures.

Uzumaki Naruto was going to get a haircut.

He dried off, got dressed and took out his wallet. His nice, full, cute looking Gama-chan. That was when the next problem came to him. He didn't scream when he realised it, and he didn't even cry. No, he was a man – a strong, grown man, and he would be a man about it.

He just needed to get some help first.

"Alright men, you know what you have to do. Squad One, you'll spread out and check the village. Squad Two, you take the rooftops and the mountain for long-distance work. Squad Three, you'll work on specific locales. Think of everything we know about the target and where she might be, and use it to our advantage.

"Remember we're on a tight schedule here. Every second counts. Don't take no for an answer. You have one mission and one mission alone. Bring. Her. To. Me.

"Now go!"

"YES SIR!"

The crowd of a hundred Kage Bunshins saluted their leader, the real Naruto, and spread out across the rooftops of the Leaf village in individual blurs of super speed motion.

Only minutes later two of the Naruto clones reappeared. By then Naruto had returned to the interior of his home to wait, and the clones let themselves and their target in.

Naruto was sat in his armchair with his back to the door. "You have done well. Now, my lovely guest please – sit down."

She sat across from Naruto on his sofa.

"I require your unique services," Naruto began. "As you can see, I met with an unfortunate accident today. My hair has been ruined. Your job shall be to solve this problem as best you can."

She folded her arms in a defiant gesture.

"Are you asking to do this because I'm a girl?"

"No, I'm asking you to do it because you're a master of edged weaponry with perfect precision. And because you're a girl."

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why should I help you?"

"Would Neji be happy to know you contributed to Hinata's date being ruined?"

"Naruto, I'm not dating Neji."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I could have sworn you were."

"I'm not dating Neji!"

"But Kiba said--"

"Don't listen to Kiba! Since when does anyone listen to Kiba!? And why would Kiba know anything about my love life anyway?!"

"So, what you're trying to say is that you're not dating Neji..?"

"Yes!"

"Oh.

"Then do it because as a Jounin I'm your superior and I'm ordering you to."

Tenten glared at Naruto. "No. Go get a haircut from a barber."

"I'm afraid that's impossible." Naruto sighed tragically. "I don't have enough money."

"You're a Jounin! Surely you have enough money for a haircut."

"I would, except I need all the money I have to give Hinata the best time possible tonight. I want it to be wonderful, and I need every penny I have to do that."

Tenten felt her resolve wavering. That was an awfully sweet sentiment her captor was expressing.

"Okay, I'll do it. But only for Hinata's sake."

Now that it was decided, Tenten took a better look at her surroundings. She'd never seen a worse looking apartment in her life, and she had been to both Lee's and Gai's!

"What the hell happened here anyway? It looks like a bomb went off!"

With that Naruto's entire mood changed. He visibly transformed from a calm, manipulative villain to miserable and morose. "If only that had been all…" He hung his head in depression. "You see it all started when I went to see Baachan this morning…"

Tenten summoned some knives and scissors from her weapons scroll and set about her job while Naruto talked. "And I thought the smell would never come out. Next time I see Kiba I'm going to kill him for that one."

"It sounds like you've been through a lot today." Tenten said. She was mostly speaking on automatic since her attention was on salvaging Naruto's ruined locks.

"A lot? I've been through hell! Not once has my Swamp of the Underworld failed that spectacularly! But it'll all be worth it if I can spend some time with Hinata."

Tenten snapped back to attention with those words. "Aww, that's so sweet." She was distracted enough that the next words to come from Naruto's lips weren't complaints about his day or whispers of his date but a cry of pain.

"Owwwwwww! What'd you do that for?" Tenten's knife had pressed a little too hard into Naruto's cheek, and now blood was pouring forth from the wound.

"Oh god I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm sorry really."

"Ah, don't worry. It'll heal in a second or so." Sure enough the cut closed within moments, and soon there was no trace of it whatsoever, except for the blood still on his face. A wet cloth washed that away, and they were back to business.

When it was done, Naruto was back to staring at himself in the mirror. "Did you really have to cut it so..?"

"Well? Great? Perfectly?"

"Short."

"Take that up with those little urchins of yours."

With Tenten shooed out of the room by some invisible Hi Bunshins Naruto was alone once more with his disaster of a life. He looked at his head in the mirror from every angle, becoming less and less impressed as he did. Finally he closed his eyes in a sigh. It would have to do. The things he did for love. Uhh, for like, that was. He didn't love Hinata. Oh no. No no no. Oh no no. No. He loved Hinata, sure, but he didn't love-love her. Oh no.

It was almost time for the date. Naruto was changed into his smart clothes (which Sakura had helped him pick out. He was a little worried about the lack of orange, but he was willing to trust Sakura's judgement even if her taste wasn't that good) and all he had to do was go pick Hinata up. What could possibly go wrong?

Luckily for Naruto he was a lot faster than the average rabid dog. Even the ninja rabid dogs of Konoha. And most fangirls weren't nearly skilled enough to track him when he was being stealthy.

Hinata was waiting outside the Hyuuga estate for Naruto – quite a long way outside the estate, actually, since she didn't think her father would be too pleased to know she was going on a date.

"Psst." The sound came from above her, so Hinata looked up. Naruto was hanging from a branch of the tree she'd been standing against. "Hi," was all he said, with a wide smile on his face.

He dropped down next to her, landing lightly on his feet with the experience of years. Hinata gasped when she saw him. "Naruto-kun! Your… your hair!"

"You like?"

"It's very… different."

"Yeah…" Naruto scratched his head. "Oh yeah!" He held out some flowers to her. "These are for you. Sorry they're a little, uhh, worse for wear. I went through a lot getting them here. But enough about me, how're you doing?"

Naruto grinned, and his warmth spread to Hinata infectiously, making her giggle, and together they walked the path to the restaurant. Hinata didn't notice the Leaf Seal glowing on her date's forehead, and naturally she didn't see the Hi Bunshins clearing the road of all obstacles and dangers. She only had eyes for Naruto anyway.

With Gama-chan full Naruto had no problem treating Hinata to anything her heart desired, and she had a wonderful time. After the meal, and after the time they'd just spent sitting at their table talking, Naruto proffered his arm to her, and escorted Hinata on her way home. As they walked slowly through the dimly lit streets of the Hidden Leaf village at night, they continued their conversation.

"Naruto-kun, did you ever hear that for every good day someone has that somewhere else someone else has to have a bad one?"

Naruto looked deep into his date's eyes. She was beautiful.

"I've heard that. But I don't believe it."

"Why not?" Hinata asked.

"Because," Naruto took her hand, "You can have the worst day in the world, and all you need to make it great is one minute with someone you love."

And he kissed her.

**Author's Note: Another chapter down. Not exactly a long wait this time and I'm sure everyone is happy about that. It's my way of making up for the long wait last time. Expect the next chapter to come soon as well. You should enjoy it, hehehe…**

**I might have finished this chapter sooner except there was an honest-to-god power cut here!**

**Reviews are, as always, most appreciated. If I get enough I might even hit 500! Though that's unlikely for this chapter. But it'd be amazing if I could… Hmm, maybe I should beg for reviews to cheer me up…**

**Thanks for reading everyone.**


	33. Chapter 32

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Will of Fire**

"For you, all I need is one finger."

Fight of the century – Uzumaki Naruto, lifelong Hokage-wannabe vs Tsunade-hime, the Godaime Hokage herself.

They'd been through this game before, but that had been years ago, and this time the finger was on the other hand, so to speak, because this time the one holding a single digit out was Naruto.

"You're cocky kid. I like it, but you'll never win."

"Don't be so sure Baachan. You're getting…" Naruto started to snicker. "You're getting… You're getting old… HAHAHA!"

However much had changed over the years, Naruto's talent at pissing Tsunade off most definitely hadn't. She loved him dearly, like a combination of big sister, aunt and mother all mixed together, but oh did he piss her off sometimes.

But she did have to admit that in the six years since she'd first met Naruto he had gone from an energetic, Hokage-obsessed, over-confident kid to an energetic, Hokage-obsessed but rightfully confident young man. He was eighteen years old and at the top of the world. As a Jounin he was the strongest ninja of the Leaf village and possessed a level of respect only matched by Tsunade herself, Haruno Sakura and (if he weren't such a pervert) Jiraiya.

In that same time Naruto had gone from being universally hated by his home village and its people to being almost-universally adored. And really that was all he had ever wanted.

That and the title of Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.

He had respect and acknowledgement, yes, but he did not have that title.

When Naruto had been born the demon fox Kyuubi had been sealed into his body in order to save the village. He was a living sacrifice to ensure the safety of everyone else in the country. You might have thought that the people would admire him for that, but then you would have been dead wrong.

He was hated. Reviled. Loathed. And that was an understatement. But little Naruto had not let this get him down, even though for the first twelve years of his life he had no idea why everyone hated him so much. He had never stopped dreaming of being acknowledged.

But why just stop there? Why stop at simply being respected when you could aim as high as the sky? Naruto didn't settle for simply wanting acknowledgement – he wanted to go as high as he could.

He wanted to be Hokage.

Biologically, his father was the Fourth Hokage, but that was something Naruto didn't find out until he was nearly an adult, but it didn't really come as a shock because Naruto had always thought of the long-dead hero as such. He was the icon of Naruto's youth, everything Naruto wasn't and everything he wanted to be. He was responsible for everything in Naruto's life, both the good and the bad, and even if their blood hadn't been the same that would have made the Yondaime his father in every way that mattered.

It was because the Fourth was loved as a martyr while Naruto was hated that the young boy had made Hokage his ultimate dream.

And right now all that stood between him and that dream was one fifty-six year old woman, with extra emphasis on old. She'd called him into her office just a little earlier that afternoon.

He'd knocked on the door, once, twice and then – the hell with it – just teleported to the inside of the room. You weren't supposed to be able to do that, but Naruto had secretly hidden a special target seal for his Hiraishin no Jutsu inside the office months before. Tsunade hadn't been able to find it yet. The answer to that was deceptively simple – because it wasn't actually hidden in her office. It was hidden in her Hokage robes. Not that Naruto was going to share that information with anyone.

"Yo, Baachan, what's going on? Need to assassinate the leader of a country? Infiltrate an enemy village? Hunt down an evil organization of missing-nins?"

"None of the above, Naruto. It's time for you to step up."

"Step up?"

"You're eighteen years old and you've proved yourself in every way I can think of. You're Hokage now."

"WHAT?!"

"I said you're Hokage now dumbass, can't you hear?"

"That's unacceptable. You're not just giving it to me! I'm going to take it!"

"You're going to do what?"

"You and me, outside, right now. A fight for the Hokage title and everything that comes with it."

"But I'm giving it to you."

"I don't want it that way. I'm going to take it from you and then there'll be no doubt about who is better suited for the job."

And that was how they ended up standing in the middle of the Leaf village's biggest, busiest street, surrounded by a circling crowd of jostling, cheering citizens, and that was where Naruto made his confident proclamation.

To the sound of people chanting his name, Uzumaki Naruto, the Leaf's Orange Shadow, pointed a single finger of his right hand straight up to the blue sky.

"It's your move, old woman."

Tsunade shrugged and walked closer to Naruto. "Your funeral," she said smarmily, and reared her arm back for one of her legendary punches. Naruto casually dodged to her right letting her fist go straight past his shoulder, and from behind her used his index finger to deftly nudge Tsunade over.

She flailed in the air, flapping her arms to regain her balance, or at least she appeared to, because just as she seemed to be off-balance her foot swept out to behind. Naruto jumped into the air and waved his left hand over his mouth in an exaggerated yawn. "Is this all you've got? I know old women who fight better than—oops! There I go again!"

That was probably the worst thing Naruto could have done, because pissing off a woman strong enough to level cities is never a good idea, and it's really an especially bad one when you're in mid-air.

Energy crackled through Tsunade's arm and for that split-second when her fist made contact with the ground she released that energy. The earth of the street split open in a rift right below Naruto. "Hey, don't do that in the middle of the village!"

"It's my village."

"Not for long! Here, this is a one Kankurou taught me," from Naruto's finger a string of chakra stretched out into existence, looping around the drainpipe of a nearby building. He swung on it out of the danger zone of the chasm and landed nimbly on his feet. "Pretty nifty, huh?"

Feeling a little breeze on his skin Naruto instinctively dodged, if only a little too late, and he felt Tsunade's fingers bite at the skin of his neck and he felt a slight shock as the world turned upside down. With his nervous system damaged his body refused to move the way he wanted it to, and he had no way of avoiding her full power blow except to gather as much chakra as possible.

It wasn't enough.

Naruto was thrown well into the air above the crowd watching the fight who craned their necks up to watch his flight. They were chanting Tsunade's name now, not his. Thanks to his quick defence Naruto wasn't particularly hurt, but he could only control maybe half his body all the same. Still, that half included the finger he was fighting with, so he was by no means helpless.

He released a burst of wind from his finger, using it to turn his body into a steady rotation. He used it to correct his fall into something he could handle even if he hadn't figured out how all of his body worked yet.

"You've been working on that, haven't you?" Tsunade asked in the middle of some seals.

"Sure," Naruto replied. "Neji gave me some pointers."

Tsunade slammed her hand down into the ground, where black seals appeared. This time she didn't use any strength, because she wasn't trying to destroy anything – she was doing the opposite, as ten green slugs each the size of a dog slithered into life. Naruto grinned. "Nice try. You should have summoned something a little bigger though."

He pushed his finger through the loops of five kunai, and after bringing his arm up let them all loose in one sweeping motion. Each of them pierced the slimy flesh of one slug and, still slicing swiftly through the air went on to hit another as well. All of the slugs vanished, leaving only ten smoke clouds and five green gunk-covered kunai.

"Let me guess – Tenten has been helping you with your accuracy?"

"Got it in one."

"So what are you going to pull out next? Green spandex?"

"I do have one of those suits, come to think of it." Laughing, he charged at Tsunade. "How about this one?" Naruto's eyes changed his crystal deep blue to the fierce red of the Kyuubi, and along with that change to his eyes there was one to his canine teeth and one to each of his fingers. His fingernails lengthened into claws and with that he stood in an animalistic stance, still with that single finger and now its single claw held out.

"So what - Kiba taught you that one?" Naruto shook his head, baring his fangs. His voice was more guttural than it had been before. "Actually it came naturally."

Naruto stabbed at Tsunade with his clawed finger, but she blocked. Even with the added power of the Kyuubi she was still stronger than him, but the gap was a lot narrower now. Naruto's advantage, however, was that his fingernail was very sharp now, and with every time his clawing attacks were blocked he cut through the current Hokage's clothes and into her skin. She was bleeding from a dozen places while Naruto healed from any injury almost instantly. No one was more aware of this fact than Tsunade, who came to her decision when she leapt back from Naruto and moved her hands over her body. They were bathed in cool healing chakra, and the shallow cuts closed just as soon as that soothing power touched them.

"Can you keep that up?" asked Naruto. "I could ask you the same thing," Tsunade responded, looking at Naruto's bestial form. "Oh, asking me, Uzumaki Naruto, if I have the stamina to continue? Come on Baachan, I didn't realise you were going senile yet. Everyone knows I can go longer and harder than anyone else."

"Oh? I guess Hinata must love that then."

"Yeah she--" Naruto caught himself a little too late. His mind was suddenly blank, he couldn't figure out what to say to fix things, so he just sputtered and blabbered incoherently as he struggled to avoid Tsunade's punches. His movements were distracted enough for her to clip him on the shoulder. Of course a light touch from Tsunade's full power was more than enough to shatter his collarbone. That might have ended the fight right then and there, except Tsunade wasn't the only one who could heal her injuries – Naruto's Kyuubi power could do it just as well, in fact it was even better.

As an aura of red chakra reinforced and repaired Naruto's shoulder, he decided that he really did need to bring the duel to an end. Taking his distance the blonde Jounin relaxed the claw from his index finger and held it up high. He fixed his eyes on the tip of that finger and calmed his breathing to a steady, solid rhythm. This was a trick that needed the utmost concentration

Tiny blades of chakra moved in every direction above his finger, and a miniature cyclone began to spin into life, contained only by a thin layer of invisible power. With just that one finger Naruto had made a Rasengan.

This time when Naruto lunged at the Godaime Hokage, his superior speed didn't win him a flesh wound, but instead the fight as his Rasengan blew Tsunade away. The Konoha people watching the match quickly got out of the way, because Tsunade was pushed back by the force of the Rasengan all the way to the end of the street.

When Tsunade picked herself up, she was smiling. "Okay, want to get serious now?" Naruto returned her grin. "If you think you can take it." Tsunade spread her hands in a welcoming gesture, but finished it by hanging her head and sighing. "Nope, you got me. Even if I go all out I get that I wouldn't be able to handle you if you used your hands."

"Plus you might break my village."

"That too."

They shook hands, accompanied by the cheers of the crowd.

"But you're going to have to fix that massive crack you made."

They walked together, Tsunade's hand on Naruto's back. From underneath his t-shirt he brought out the necklace she'd given him all those years ago and held it tight in his hand. Tsunade saw what Naruto was doing and stretched her hand out to his shoulder, hugging him tight to her as they continued on.

Halfway to the ninja administration building something occurred to the now-former Hokage. "Why didn't you just teleport us there?"

"Hmm, good question."

Hinata had a kiss just for Naruto when he stopped off at his apartment, and that was before he told her the news. She'd never doubted for a second in all the years that he'd actually make it to Hokage, but that did not stop her from being overjoyed for her boyfriend. "Mmm," she held him close. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Hinata licked her lips seductively. "When you come back with the robes we could have some… fun… with them." Her face was red enough then with those words that it could have been mistaken for a ripe tomato.

A quick change into formal clothes and a goodbye kiss later Naruto was bounding over the rooftops of the Hidden Leaf. His energy and enthusiasm was exploding out, and he was running wild up there. He literally jumped for joy from one building to another, dancing in the air. All of his elation was finally pouring from him, and everywhere in the village the people could feel something lifting their spirits and raising their happiness. They started whistling as they worked. They kissed their spouses; they hugged their children. They went about their days with their heads held high and their hearts warmed, though they didn't know why. And above their heads Uzumaki Naruto danced.

The sun was just setting when Tsunade gathered the villagers. The ordinary citizens stood in a group near the balcony where she stood and Naruto sat. The ninja population were more spread out, standing on roofs and walls and in small groups. It didn't matter whether they were a shinobi or a civilian, everyone either knew what the announcement was about or could figure it out easily enough.

Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Some of you might know that my sensei was the Third Hokage. When I was a student Sarutobi-sensei was fond of talking about what he called the Will of Fire. He said that the most important thing for a ninja to have is a spirit that burns brightly like fire. The Will of Fire is a willingness to risk your life for what is important to you – for your family and friends and your home.

"When Sarutobi-sensei died, he did it to save the village, just like the Hokages before him. And when he died I was chosen to be his successor as the Fifth, but before that I had to gain one thing: the Will of Fire.

"I didn't have that willingness to give anything and do anything to save this village and the people precious to me. Not until one twelve year old boy showed me the error of my ways and shared with me his unbreakable spirit. With nothing but his small body and his enormous courage he stood up for all of us against an immense evil, and I knew then that one day he would become Hokage.

"That boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto, and that day is today."

Naruto smiled to himself with his head bent to look up. His gaze would have pierced the sky and found the stars if it were possible. He closed his eyes to the world, and everything became just his slow and steady heartbeat.

You would be forgiven for thinking that on this day above all others Naruto would be excited, but that simply wasn't the case. Instead of feeling like an impossible dream was in his reach he just felt like everything was finally right with the world, and he was exactly where he had always been destined to be.

He heard Tsunade speaking distantly, but only distantly. The world was just the glory of his greatest dream and the warm beat of his heart. When it was time he stood, with his head still pointed upwards. Slowly, slowly he bent his head back down and just as slowly he opened his eyes. And he spoke the words he had practised in his mind his entire life.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am the Rokudaime Hokage."

**Author's Note: I wanted to save this story for a landmark chapter. An ordinary person might have gone for 25 or 50, but I'm not an ordinary person. This is my 33rd upload for this story, and I told you guys before how much I love the number 3, so here it is.**

**Since I'm at 482 reviews at the time I'm writing this, it seems like a pretty good bet that I'll hit 500 reviews. That will be so awesome. I know this isn't anywhere near the best or the most popular Naruto fic out there (though I wish it were, because sometimes it seems like your approval is what I'm living for at the moment), but 500 reviews is a lot all the same!**

**Next chapter might take a while. Hopefully not very long, but I don't know yet. Hope everyone enjoyed this one. If you did, review it! Hell, go back and review the other ones as well, heheh..**

**Thanks.**

**Review! Review! Review!**


	34. Chapter 33

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Earth Meets Heaven Part Two**

The sun was high in the sky when the semi-finals of the Chuunin Exam's final round began. There had been an interval between the rounds – time for the audience to file out to go to the bathroom or get something to eat, and more importantly for some time for new bets to be made. After the first round of fighting the favourite was now Uzumaki Yume, thanks to the extreme, overwhelming power she'd shown them in her fight against Hoshigaki Ban. Her odds had always been good, considering that she was the eldest child of the legendary Orange Shadow, the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.

The odds on her younger brother Iruka were not so good. He had won his fight through tactics and ingenuity, but he hadn't truly impressed anyone. Not like his opponent in the first fight, Hoshigaki Dan. He was the oldest Genin taking part in the fights, and he was also the son of a Kage – the former Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, Hoshigaki Satomaru.

The worst odds, however, were on Yuuhi Sakumo. No record as a student. No record as a Genin. No famous parents or family. His previous fight had been impressive, sure, but not as impressive as some of the others. His odds were bad.

Like the sun, the Kazekage was high up as well in his private box, shared by his best friend Uzumaki Naruto. Who was still extremely smug about the facts that not only had both of his children gotten into the finals and won their first fights, but that his daughter Yume had nicely beaten one Hoshigaki Ban, brother of Dan and also the person who'd beaten Gaara's own son in the preliminary round one month earlier.

"Iruka is so going to win."

"I would not be so sure," Gaara replied to Naruto. "This Dan boy is very strong for his age."

"And Iruka isn't?"

"Of course he is. Iruka is a very strong eleven year old. But Dan has four years on him."

"You're going to look stupid when he loses, you realise that don't you?"

"I do."

Down on the floor of the arena things were just getting started. Once again Iruka was met with a cold sneer from his opponent and yet more spiteful conversation.

"Is this going to be revenge for your fat friend?" Dan smiled nastily and tapped his foot on the sandy arena floor, making a deep impression.

Iruka held up his index finger. "One, don't you ever call him fat." He added his middle finger as well. "Two, why does that sound so familiar?" He separated his fingers into a victory v and grinned the classic foxy grin that his family was so fond of. "Oh, and yeah, you're going down."

"We shall see."

Iruka spread his arms out, palms up. "Yes, we shall."

The Jounin Examiner, Hikaru Ari, motioned for the fight to begin and stepped away from the two Genin. He was expecting this to be a good fight.

Immediately Iruka threw two kunai at Dan, one hitting the sand to each side of the swordsman. "More explosive notes?" Dan asked in a bored tone. "Don't you Leaf-nins get more creative than that?"

"We might," Iruka said as he charged towards the older boy. He didn't make it all the way there, however, because a short distance away from Dan he skidded and stopped, just as the charge on the notes ran out. Huge amounts of thick smoke burst out from both of the notes, completely obscuring the part of the arena where both of the Genin stood.

"Shit!" Dan yelled, swinging his sword. He could hear movements but he really couldn't tell where exactly his enemy was. The smoke cleared somewhat and he could see some vague shapes forming. More of the Leaf kid's Kage Bunshins no doubt. He swung his sword at them in a sweeping arc, holding its long hilt in both of his hands. Several of the Iruka clones were bisected clean through, or they would have been if they didn't just disappear into small puffs of even more smoke, and the rest were coming at him fast. And as the smoke cleared more and more and visibility improved Dan could see that there were a lot of those clones. No matter, because Dan could kill them all day and he wasn't anywhere near tired yet.

There were an awful lot of those clones down in the arena. An awful lot. It looked like there were somewhere between fifty and seventy Irukas down there, but most of the people watching couldn't really be sure because they were moving very quickly. Kage Bunshins ran and dived and jumped about in a feat of great vitality and agility from the Uzumaki boy. But while the Hoshigaki boy's movements were by far less flamboyant and by far more controlled. He stood contained within the circle of his active range destroying anything that came close. His sword moved slowly but with deadly accuracy. There were no wasted motions or failures in his form.

When Dan realised his mistake it was too late.

A ring of Irukas was surrounding him. A wide ring. His sword was capable of stretching to defeat any one of them and maybe more, but not too many. Not if they stayed at that range. On the other hand, it wasn't as if really felt threatened by this tactic. What could they do at that range? He was more than capable of dodging or deflecting whatever they could throw at him, literally and figuratively. Or so he thought, anyway, because things were about to change.

Each of the Kage Bunshins held a handful of shuriken. Each of them threw those shuriken, and each of them performed some hand seals. And each of those shuriken multiplied.

"SHURIKEN KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Was the cry that came from every Iruka standing in that circle around Dan, and hundreds of shuriken flew from every direction towards the Mist Genin. He was a fairly large target, and no matter his superb skills and no matter the metamorphic powers of his sword he could not defend nor dodge them all. His sword moved like it was alive, but he was hit. He was hit many times.

So were the clones of Iruka. With spinning blades slicing through the air every which way possible they couldn't defend either, and all but one Iruka disappeared. That sole body left remaining was just as injured as Dan, if not more so. But it was smiling.

"Heh… How'd you… like that one… huh?"

Dan held his sword low in his left hand, and with his right lightly probed his body, feeling for wounds and testing for anything worse. His words were careful, calm. "How did you? You're a lot worse off than me, little boy."

Iruka shrugged, or tried to. "I heal fast. I'm an Uzumaki, and you should remember it." With a hand gesture from him almost all of the shuriken disappeared. "Because I'm about to kick your ass harder than anyone ever has or ever will. When I'm done you might just give up being a ninja altogether from the shame of losing that hard. Your loss will be legendary. Mothers will scare their children to sleep with stories of it, and you will live on forever as a--"

"You talk too much," Dan interrupted.

"Yeah," Iruka replied, smiling slightly. "But I heal fast."

One cross-fingered hand seal later and the arena was filled with Kage Bunshins again. Working together as a unit they attacked and Dan fended them off. But his movements were slower now and they weren't perfect anymore.

"Did you teach him that?" Came the question from Gaara in the viewing box reserved for the two Kages. "No…" Naruto responded, speaking carefully. "No I did not. And neither did Jiraiya, and I know Lee didn't."

"So who did?"

There was a twinkle in Naruto's eyes. "I don't think anyone did."

"But it's a Jounin class technique, Naruto."

"I taught him the Kage Bunshin. The two are intimately related. But yes, it's a Jounin class technique, and I think he figured it out on his own. That's my son alright!"

"If he were really your son he would have come up with a perverted technique instead."

"Humph."

Hoshigaki Dan, the youngest Mist-nin to ever become one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen along with his twin brother, was no amateur, and he'd made that clear. Because he knew what he was doing he knew what Iruka was. He might not have the right name, but Uzumaki Iruka had the right eyes. He was a Hyuuga and he had the Byakugan. He knew the Gentle Fist, and more to the point Dan knew that he did. That meant that Dan could not afford to let any one of those clones come in close enough to hurt him.

But he couldn't fall for the same trick again either. The kid had been right about something else as well – he healed fast. It looked like his cuts had stopped bleeding already. Dan had to be fast, he had to be precise and he had to be thorough. He didn't stand still this time; he ran and cut through anything that he could reach. But it wasn't enough, because he was hurt very badly and there were a lot of clones. It was time to take things up a notch.

"Prayer of Rain!" Dan lifted his sword to the sky. In the bright sun it shone like a ray of light itself, and the blade shot upwards. The hilt and guard of the sword was still in Dan's hand, and with it he parried the attacks of a few Iruka clones while he waited those precious few seconds.

Like drops of rain the knives they fell, glowing white like the sun and shredding the clones standing wherever they stood. All but one of them changed into clouds of smoke. That one fell just like the sword blades had, but did not disappear like they did. As the blade reappeared on its hilt and the sword was complete again, blood soaked out from Iruka and into the sand.

Dan stepped forward, walking towards Iruka. He did it with haste, but he did it carefully. He stood over his enemy's body with his sword in his hand and he spoke.

"No, no. This is what you want me to do." His eyes glanced around the battlefield. He didn't seem to really be addressing Iruka. "I've seen this before from you. You're--" he held his sword pointed at Iruka from over his head. "You're not real. You keep pulling the same trick over and over and expect me to fall for it, but I won't. I'm smarter than you.

"Get up."

Iruka, or what looked like Iruka, pulled himself up to his feet taking ragged breaths that shook his entire body each time he inhaled and each time he exhaled. "Okay… I'm… up…"

Dan put the sword to Iruka's throat. He held it a little more lightly and it weighed down on the younger boy's shoulder, buckling his knees. "You're not real."

Through the blood and the pain, the internal injuries and the external, Iruka smiled. His eyes looked deep into Dan and he spoke slowly. "No, I'm not." And the Kage Bunshin vanished.

The moment the Iruka clone was dispelled Dan reacted and pulled his sword back towards himself in a guard. He was expecting anything and was ready for it as well. He might have been hurt but he could still fight, and he would still win.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Dan roared. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

The Mist Swordsman's eyes darted from one scattered shuriken or kunai to another searching for clues or anything pointing to where the real Iruka was hiding.

Dan formed a complex pattern in his head, and through it concentrated chakra into his sword. "Prayer of Needles," he whispered. With that the weapon changed again; it became long and thin and sharp as death. His movements were automatic: his arm seemed to be detached from the rest of his body; even though his posture was strained his right arm moved as if some force other than his will were controlling it. The tip of the blade pierced in a blur all of the discarded weapons that littered the arena floor. They were scratched or damaged or broken all in seconds. None of them changed into an eleven year old Genin. Iruka was somewhere else.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Dan repeated in another echoing cry. His arm hung from his shoulder limply, with little strength remaining in it. Iruka did just that.

He burst up from underneath the sand and into the air behind Dan. As the Mist-nin spun his sword rose up and went straight through Iruka's chest, slipping neatly through his rib cage and all the way out his back. Iruka's eyes opened wide and his jaw fell open. That was when he changed. He changed from a young boy wearing an orange suit to just the jacket of that suit.

A hiss came from inside that jacket, which was impaled on Dan's sword. Iruka jumped up from under the sand floor again, this time just wearing his black t-shirt. Dan noticed the seal-covered notes lining the jacket, but he was too weak and too exhausted to do anything about it in time. His body was worn and he was bleeding from far too many places. The muscles of his sword arm were torn, but he knew that if he dropped that sword he would be completely defenceless.

"Oh," Iruka said. "And by the way – those notes? Don't expect smoke."

The explosive notes hidden inside Iruka's black and orange jacket, the jacket still hanging on Hoshigaki Dan's sword hilt, did what all explosive notes do. They exploded.

"Hoshigaki: zero, Uzumaki: two. Remember that."

He didn't hear. He was unconscious. Medic-nins rushed fast as they could to his body, hoping to save him from the burns and the blood loss. Iruka collapsed backwards onto the sand, but he did it gently and with relief. There was a smile on his face.

"Winner – Uzumaki Iruka!"

"That's my son!" Naruto repeated at the top of his voice. "Yes! He's my son alright!"

Gaara was pleased with the result as well, but there was a nagging feeling that he was going to regret something. That feeling just increased as the head of his best friend in the whole wide world, the Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Uzumaki Naruto, turned round to face him with the biggest grin the Kazekage had ever seen.

"You may say it," Gaara sighed. "Go ahead."

"Both of my kids beat those Mist Genin. You know what that means, don't you Gaara?"

"I have a suspicion as to what you are referring to, yes."

"Your son couldn't beat one of them. My kids beat both."

"What is your point?"

"I win, that's my point."

Gaara stared at Naruto. "You won… what?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto was genuinely confused. "I won – you know, I won. I'm the winner."

"You didn't win anything," Gaara replied. "Your children won their fights, but you did not win anything."

"That's why I won though. Because they did. They won, so I win. You lose."

Gaara continued staring at the blonde man. "You make little sense Naruto."

"Maybe, but I still win."

Yume was riding high on her victory. She might not have been the most popular with the crowd while her fight was going on, but by the time she stepped out onto the arena the cheers were deafening. Her show of the demon Kyuubi power she'd inherited from her father had been amazing, and the crowd where looking for another match just like it.

Sakumo heard the cheers only distantly. He knew full well they weren't directed at him, so they were unimportant. In fact there were only a few people he was interested in hearing cheer for him, and he knew that only one of them was among the voices filling the round structure of the arena. Three of those people were watching him from the audience and the fighters box. One of them was standing opposite him. But the one person he wanted to watch him above all others was not watching and never could be.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on slowing the beat of his heart down. It was time. It was time.

"Begin," the Examiner said, and Yume charged at her friend. Her palms were open, so Sakumo knew she was fighting in the ancient Hyuuga Taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist. He backed away and took account of the situation. Yume was fighting on her own without the use of the Kage Bunshin, which was her other trademark move. Earlier that day she had used a terrifying power that even Sakumo, her teammate and close friend, had never seen before. He could work out what it had been reasonably easily – her father, he knew, was the host of the Nine-Tails, and clearly Yume had inherited some of its power. But Sakumo had noticed something very important about Yume's new ability – it had clearly left her drained.

She was tired. Not noticeably, and by any normal person's standards she probably wouldn't even be considered tired, but an Uzumaki couldn't be judged by normal standards – not when it came to stamina. Stamina or ramen consumption. By fighting her almost every day for months now, Sakumo knew Yume's limits very well. She had always had a lot more stamina than him, in every single fight when she was fresh. But when she was already tired things could be a lot closer. And she was already tired. And she knew it too – Yume wasn't using the Kage Bunshin, which Sakumo knew was an exceedingly draining technique. He might not be able to use it, but knowing about his teammates abilities was essential for any good ninja.

Sakumo was tired as well, but the advantage was still his.

Yume caught up with him and struck forward, but he dodged and swept out at her legs with a kick. She buckled from the impact, and using that window Sakumo reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a small bottle, the neck of which he broke with his thumb before splashing its contents over Yume's body. "Aarrh!! What the hell was that?!"

"You don't want to know." Sakumo replied with a wry smile in his voice. "Aaaaaarrh!!! Why?!? Why?!? Geez this stuff stinks! I stink!!" Yume fumed and her eyes clouded over with anger. She sped up, thrusting her hands at him faster and harder than before.

Sakumo used small motions to avoid her, blocking with the armour on his arms whenever possible and necessary. She hit hard because she was mad, and she hit hard because she was strong. But she was hitting too hard, and hitting too fast. She was using her stamina up faster than Sakumo was using his.

Yume realised that she wasn't getting anywhere, even through the haze of her fierce emotions. It was time to change tack and try something else. With both her hands she pushed her teammate and opponent forward, and using his body to flip backwards she made some distance between the two of them. Just enough for her to cross her fingers in a seal and change the battle from one-on-one to Sakumo versus an army.

Sakumo was not one to be deterred by the arrival in the arena of another thirty Yumes, possibly because the moment she had done it was the same moment he had smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

Flipping two kunai between his hands, the red-eyed boy waited for an opportune moment before throwing them both high into the air. As the eyes of the closest Yume clone darted up at the sparkling metal a fist caught her unguarded chin, slamming into it and sending it back into the crowd of Kage Bunshins before it disappeared.

Sakumo raised his hand with his palm up, and gestured. With his hand he said: "come get me," and the horde of blonde girls didn't hesitate.

The nearest wave of clones dived at his feet while from behind the next group used the backs of their comrades to leap up high into the air. Sakumo stood in total control, breathing steadily and smoothly. Barely moving he let a handful of shuriken slice up through the torsos of the airborne Yumes. The way he moved as he jumped out of the way of the next attack was almost distracted. It was as if he was a million miles away.

Suddenly, while he was busy fending off a three-pronged Taijutsu attack from Yume – and doing badly at that – he snapped to attention and blurred out of sight. With a dramatic rise in his speed Sakumo fled to the edge of the arena floor. The Yumes were already running to catch up with him, thinking her teammate was trapped. That wasn't the case as he just jumped up to the wall, gathering chakra to the soles of his feet. He ran along the wall in a flash letting him flank the team of Kage Bunshins all in an effort to get him closer to his true target. To within range of her.

Three seconds was all Sakumo needed to pick her out from among the throng, even with his eyes closed. In that time his opponents had turned and started towards him once again, but they were too slow and their movements too predictable. At least they were for the boy who'd been fighting beside Yume every day. He reached under the guard on his left arm and released its hidden catch; from the tip at his wrist three needles poked out, and with his right hand steadying his aim the first of them shot out. His arm had effectively been transformed into a deadly little crossbow, and the bolt punched through the air and through the shoulder of the orange-wearing girl. She didn't turn into smoke, not even when the second and third bolts stabbed her other shoulder and into her chest.

A red line trickled down out of Uzumaki Yume's mouth, and suddenly she was on her knees and on her own, spitting out more blood.

Talking took Herculean effort. "How?"

"I tracked you," Sakumo answered with gentleness to his voice. "I could smell which one was really you by tracking the paths each of you and the clones took after I splashed that scent on you.. Only one of the paths was longer than the others, so I knew it had to be you."

"Huh… nice one…"

She tried to drag her hands up and into a cross; tried to make more Kage Bunshins to save herself. She couldn't quite manage it. Which meant it was time for the final weapon in her arsenal.

Sakumo felt it instantly, and he felt it deep inside his soul. He felt like he was something tiny facing something infinitely large and even more malevolent. Yume almost jumped to her feet, revitalised, and the needles shot out of her body even faster than they'd entered it. Every injury on her body or inside simply healed away. As the red energy surrounded Yume, and as her face transformed into something feral, Sakumo wondered if he'd been wrong all along and if maybe he was going to lose. Maybe there was nothing he could do in the face of such power. Maybe it was all over for him – all that pain and all those years of suffering through hard training for nothing.

No.

No!

Yume was still breathing in her new power, still letting it flow through her body. It was such a rush; she felt like she could do anything. The power of the Kyuubi burned through every part of her being, filling her with rage and fury and the strength to destroy everything she saw. She was still revelling in the fire pouring through her veins when she noticed that the boy she wanted to beat so much was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are you?!" She growled deeply from the back of her throat. "WHERE ARE YOU!!" It wasn't a question. It was an order sent roaring into the air.

"You can't hide from me! BYAKUGAN!" Hot demon chakra surged through Yume's inner coils and into her eyes. For some reason she felt an almost blinding pain from them, dimmed though it was by her wrath. But now her eyes showed her everything all around, everywhere in the arena that Sakumo might hide. Except that it didn't. Three hundred and sixty degree vision and he was nowhere to be seen. Which meant he could only be one place. It was an easy enough task to form the seal and give her eyes the power to see through matter. He was hiding underground, and she could see exactly where.

In just a second she was above him, faster than he could ever react. She was high in the air, and with impossible force her hand slammed down at the sandy arena floor. With her Hyuuga-trained skills Yume pushed chakra out of her hand into the ground in a strike that could never be described as Gentle.

Sakumo felt it like every part of his body was being walloped with a mallet at once. If the force hadn't been diminished by the sand and earth above him then he would have been knocked clean out. Even with it he felt like his body was one giant bruise.

His concentration was almost broken, but Sakumo managed to hold on to the last shreds long enough to use his Doton jutsu to burrow away. It had been all he could do just to use it in the first place – staring down Yume's monstrous aura was enough to break any Genin, but calm sanctuary had been found within the embrace of the earth. Hidden there he was safe from the baleful intent.

"Not good enough!" Yume shouted at the top of her voice. She dived into the ground herself, digging through with her own hands.

The crowd had drawn quiet the moment the demonic pressure of Yume's Kyuubi power had driven fear into their hearts, but with both of the competitors gone from their sight their silence merely continued. Gradual murmurs rose up from the audience as more and more time passed with not a sign of the pair.

Watching the fight in a way no one else in the audience could, Uzumaki Iruka suddenly bent his head and looked down. "Damn," he whispered, shaking his head. It was over.

A hand abruptly plunged out towards the sky from under the sand's grasp. It struggled to pull its owner free, and its twin dragged the unaware form of the other Genin up to the surface. Once that was done both hands held a worn and beaten body up with the last of their energy, pushing against the ground to stand.

That same hand raised into the air once again, this time to signal the shinobi's victory over his team-mate, Uzumaki Yume.

"Winner - Yuuhi Sakumo."

Nowhere were the screamed and shouted complaints louder than in the private viewing box for the resident Kages, though there were plenty of people other than Naruto angry with the result. It was bad enough that the favourite had lost, but that she'd lost while buried underground where no one could see? That was just an insult, the audience thought. This was supposed to be a show. They were outraged, feeling cheated out of their money's worth.

Of course the people who'd put bets on Sakumo – the long shot – were laughing all the way to the ninja bank.

"This is ridiculous! He must have cheated somehow!"

Needless to say the speaker was Uzumaki Naruto himself, and even more needless to say was that he was not happy. Not happy at all. His precious daughter had lost and he couldn't even be sure what had happened. He had a fairly good idea, of course, but he still didn't know for sure, and that annoyed Naruto a lot.

The medic-nins carried off Yume. She still wasn't moving.

It wasn't as if Naruto didn't trust them, but in a flash he was gone from sitting beside Gaara and down by the side of his little girl as she was taken away to be treated.

The edge of Gaara's mouth curved up ever so slightly. "Look after her," he said to Naruto, even if the blonde man wasn't there to hear anymore. From behind him, an aide stepped up to speak with Gaara. "Kazekage-sama, we require a slightly longer intermission than normal in order to deal with the injuries of the Yuuhi boy before his next match."

Gaara nodded to him and the man teleported away immediately.

The Yuuhi boy himself lay on a stretcher and smiled. Two down.

**Author's Note: I meant to finish the fights with this chapter, but it was taking a long time, so I thought I'd tide you readers over with the semi-finals while I finish up the last match. I'll probably expand the chapter into more than just the fight now.**

**The big news is that obviously I hit 500 reviews!!! Well over it in fact. That just feels great. A well and truly awesome feel. 500 just seems like a solid number, you know? Like it matters. Thank you all so much.**

**So remember to review this chapter as well! I hope everyone enjoyed it.**


	35. Chapter 34

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Earth Meets Heaven Part Three**

The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand sighed. At once, the Jounin bodyguards standing alert behind his seat looked at each other in panic. It was not like Gaara to sigh or really make much noise at all. "Kazekage-sama," one started nervously, "Is everything alright sir?"

"Everything is fine. It is simply that the presence of Uzumaki Naruto would be preferable. His son's match is about to start, but he is still absent. I also hope that Uzumaki Yume is doing better than before, for her injuries were most worrying."

Gaara had mixed feelings about Uzumaki Iruka, who was about to fight in the finals of the Chuunin Exam. He had been there when baby Iruka had been born. He had watched the boy he considered a nephew all his life with love… but now Iruka was dating his little Kazeko, daughter of his own sister, and Gaara didn't know what to think of that.

He thought back to the conversation the two of them had had a little under a month ago. It had been short: confusing for Iruka and unfulfilling for Gaara. Gaara hadn't been able to adequately express his dislike for the young couple's relationship – it wasn't really within the scope of his personal emotive experience – and so they both of them had left the conversation without really knowing what the other felt or meant.

He wanted to cheer Iruka on – in his own way, of course – with a clean conscience, but there was something missing. There was no one sitting beside him to cut through Gaara's doubt with an innocent and pure voice. Uzumaki Naruto only needed one word to make a man his friend or clear his mind of all his doubts. It was his greatest gift; it rose above and beyond any physical power or demonic force the Sixth Hokage might have to lift the spirits of whomever it touched. Right then Gaara wanted Naruto to be there to do exactly that for him, to blast straight through his troubles and let him just enjoy his day. He'd done it before, with his whole-hearted support for his son, but he just wasn't there to do it now. Naruto had the Will of Fire and he never gave up – not in a fight and not in anything else, not even a simple conversation.

In the arena's infirmary at that moment was Naruto, but in there with him were people who also shared in that Will of Fire. One of them was unconscious and under the care of the Sand's medic-nins and another stood watching over his sister in her bed. Lying up in another bed was the boy who'd beaten Yume and made the way to the finals – Yuuhi Sakumo. The Will of Fire was in him as well, but it was a fickle and fluttering flame not yet grown strong. While his spirit was weak then, his body was not. The medics had healed him and with the help of a soldier pill he was ready to go. All he and Iruka were waiting for was for Yume to become stable.

Iruka walked out of there before his opponent, confident that Yume was going to be just fine and confident that even if she wasn't their dad would be right there to help.

He did some stretches while waiting for Sakumo, and he rubbed the area around his eyes with some balm. It was a special Hyuuga recipe for soothing the pain that came from extended use of the Byakugan, and his mother had made it for him before he left. Because of that it meant more to him than just the cool feeling it gave him. Iruka missed Hinata a lot – he'd never gone a month without seeing her before. But now he was nearing the end of that trial; all he had to do was win.

As Yuuhi Sakumo walked out on to the sand of the floor he thought the fight over in his head. He weighed up the abilities of his rival and came to a vital conclusion.

The direct approach was what Sakumo knew he had to take. The one thing he could never do was underestimate the mind of Uzumaki Iruka. That was what everyone had always done. His sister stood in front of him in everyone's mind (everyone's!) and she was a brash, loud-mouthed, overconfident and downright unthinking girl. It wasn't that she didn't have a brain; it was that she often needed to be reminded of its existence. Frequently and loudly if at all possible.

Iruka, on the other chromosomal hand, had a keen and crafty mind, and not only did he know it but he knew how to use it as well. And he knew that Sakumo was a smart fighter as well – he'd already thought of strategies to try if Sakumo were to repeat any of his old moves he'd already shown.

What Iruka's mind was telling him, more than anything else, was that he was going to win. He had more stamina, more tricks and he was just as smart. He wasn't going to be out-thought or out-fought. He could almost see his victory just in front of him.

The Jounin Examiner of the Chuunin finals – Hikaru Ari – smiled secretly to himself. He enjoyed his job very much. There was nothing quite like seeing these bright and enthusiastic, bold and idealistic children do battle. They were too young to be jaded and too old to be blind.

Ari gave the nod to both of the Leaf-nins, and the fight was begun. Immediately Iruka made a hand seal and shouted "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," creating another ten versions of himself, all of whom said "I'm going to go all out!"

Each of the Kage Bunshins performed their own seals and vanished from Sakumo's line of sight. They were still in view for the audience, high above the arena floor, because those ten new Irukas were high in the air as well. They had used the Shunshin no Jutsu to teleport above Sakumo, and once in the air they angled their bodies to make a sharp descent. It was while they were nearing Sakumo that to a one they transformed, becoming swords to make that fall even sharper.

The movements of their target were almost artistic in the beauty of their economy. Not a single part of the flow was wasted and not a single wound was made on the body of Yuuhi Sakumo. The armour on his arms and shoulders was used expertly to block those blades, but even that was only when he could not dodge them completely.

Of course this was not the end of Iruka's strategy by any means. Those swords that littered around the ready figure of Sakumo transformed once more, reverting to their original form. They grabbed at Sakumo, but before any of them could make contact the older boy seemed to fall down into the ground. His Doton jutsu hid him within the earth, but it could not hide him from the white eyes of Uzumaki Iruka, who in another world would be the heir to the Hyuuga clan.

Eight of the clones disappeared altogether, and the remaining two joined hands. Together they transformed with another Henge no Jutsu, becoming a large spear, which the true Iruka picked up with one hand and twirled before plunging straight into the ground.

Under the ground Sakumo breathed a tight sigh of relief as the dark metal of the spear's tip missed him. He was not so relieved when that blade became a human and lunged at him with flashing hands. Under the earth in the tunnel formed by Sakumo's Doton there was not much room to move, and Sakumo's only advantage was that it was his jutsu and he could still control it. He made a quick evasive move down further into the ground and as hurried as he could made some more hand seals and thrust out his right hand. It glowed as it touched the flesh of the Kage Bunshin.

The clone brushed off the contact and punched Sakumo in the jaw, knocking him clean out in just one hit. Then, smiling, it jumped up carrying him to the surface, where it was met by cheers and applause and…

Sakumo stabbed the Kage Bunshin with his short sword and it disappeared, hidden from sight by the layers of earth and sand above. It had never hit him or carried him anywhere, because it had all been an illusion hypnotised into its mind.

Above the surface, in fact, there stood the real Uzumaki Iruka. He wasn't waiting or hatching plans and building defences or anything like that. No, he was commenting on what was happening down below for the benefit of everyone who couldn't see. Like a professional presenter he let his voice ring out through the whole structure of the arena.

"Ooh, and Sakumo has just tried his trump card from the last match! He's used a Genjutsu on my Kage Bunshin and took that time to destroy it. Now, you might be wondering where he learned this move, but it's quite simple – his mother taught him. Sakumo isn't an expert on Genjutsus but he's a smart guy and he picked a few things up. He used this on Yume in his last match too, just like now. She went underground and with the last of his strength he used it to beat her. The question I'm sure is on all of your minds is this – will Yuuhi Sakumo beat another Uzumaki? Or will the hero of the hour come through?

"My second Kage Bunshin just transformed though, and now it's attacking as well! Will the second time be the charm, or is Sakumo going to remain champion? Only time will tell, and – oh! That was a beautiful move right there. He just collapsed the wall of the tunnel on the Bunshin, and that was lights out! Right now he's coming up here, and here… he… is…!"

Sakumo came up from behind Iruka, but it didn't matter. The fox boy still ducked the kunai coming his way perfectly, and swept his right foot backwards to catch Sakumo as he dashed at him. But Iruka's foot was suspended as Sakumo grabbed it, and the son of the Hokage grunted in self-disgust as he was pulled back and made to fall.

His hands hit the sand hard, embedding grains into his palm. Iruka let a large amount of chakra flow through his inner coils and forced it out of the opening points in his leg and foot, burning Sakumo and forcing those hands apart, making him let go of Iruka, who flipped forward and landed back firmly.

Sakumo ignored the pain and tugged on a near-invisible wire attached to the kunai he'd thrown those few seconds before. It and the wires wrapped round the ankles of his opponent, binding him while Sakumo reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a piece of paper. He wrapped it round his ends of the metal wires and tapped it with a pulse of chakra, activating its seals. Those intricately painted swirls and characters translated that chakra into a different form of energy altogether.

A howling current of electricity ran down the wires and into the body of Uzumaki Iruka, and just as it arced along those wires Iruka's back arched in an involuntary response to the intense pain. He repeated his move from before and more chakra pushed out of his legs to snap the wires, giving Iruka the freedom he needed to catch his breath and restore his ready stance.

The red-eyed Genin stamped his foot to the floor in accentuation, and took a step towards Iruka.

"Sakumo, you should be careful. You've already seen how strong Yume can be. You think I don't have that power as well?"

"Please, Iruka, I see right through you. You can't do that."

"Who says I can't?"

"Oh come on Iruka - you didn't once use it when you could have finished your fights in seconds with it. If you had that power you would have used it."

"Did I need to?"

Sakumo glared his reply, then breathed deeply and loudly in a hiss. "No."

"So how do you know I can't? Both of us trained with that old pervert, and we worked our asses off. We had to, to keep the freak away from us. And we got results, both of us."

"I don't believe you. This is another one of your little tricks."

Iruka bent his head sideways, closed his eyes and shrugged. "Fine, don't listen."

In that time that the dark-haired boy's eyes were closed his opponent took the chance to press his advantage. With superior strength he grabbed Iruka's arms and held him in an iron grip. "No more time for bluffs, Iruka-kun, it's time for you to give up or get hurt."

Iruka took this still as calm as before, still eyes kept closed. "I'm not going to give up - but - you might be the one getting hurt."

Sakumo put more force into the hold, but Iruka just grit his teeth. He wasn't going to give up any time soon. Sakumo kept on pushing though, harder and harder. Sweat broke out on Iruka's forehead in the length of a blink. Sakumo knew that Iruka was going past his limits – physical strength, strength and speed, these were the eleven year old's weakness, and Sakumo knew it. They were only a relative weakness of course, because with his large chakra supply his strength and his speed could easily be augmented. But Sakumo's body was by far stronger physically, and his chakra reserves were nothing to sneeze at either. Enhancing his body came easier, faster and with more intensity than it did for Iruka.

He didn't cry out until Sakumo broke both of his arms. When that happened, when his bones snapped and cracked Iruka let out one brief burst of harsh sound. When that initial pain passed the yell ceased as well, and it was replaced by a low hum. Iruka's eyes were still closed.

When they opened, they were red. Like his sister, a burning crimson star shone inside the white of the Byakugan. The powers of both his parents were active, Hyuuga and Uzumaki blood joined in one body. One body which was whole, healed and perfect. It had been almost instant.

Iruka put on a ferocious charge, and Sakumo couldn't even react when the eleven-year-old boy's hand simply pushed at his chest, knocking him far away across the arena with just that one touch.

"Get up and give up Sakumo. This fight is over. You're just out-classed."

He did get up, pulling his whole body up with force of will, and once he stood on his two feet those feet began to step forward, heading back towards Iruka surely.

"I can still fight!" Sakumo roared. "This is nothing, nothing like the pressure I felt against Yume. Compared to her you're weak!"

Behind the red eyes and the black whiskers, behind the fangs and claws and the power there was still and always an intelligence. Right then it was dimmed a little by the rush of power, but it was still there shining in those red eyes.

"You're being stupid Sakumo. I'm not my sister, and she's not me.

"This isn't like you."

Rage flickered over Sakumo's face momentarily. "You don't even know me. You don't know anything about who I really am, none of you do."

Iruka pulled out a shuriken and threw it into the air. Still burning red with demon power he performed a set of hand seals Sakumo recognized from the fox boy's last match. But there was a difference between the last time he'd used the Shuriken Kage Bunshin and this one – with his Kyuubi chakra granting him strength just that one shuriken became hundreds.

The air was black with spinning metal, and Iruka fully expected the fight to be over when it cleared. He was not expecting Sakumo to still be standing there, and even less was he expecting the Leaf-nin to be unharmed. He was panting, and there were a few scratches on him, but in all the important ways he was unharmed.

"Fine," Iruka said. "We'll do this the easy way." In a blur he was behind Sakumo, and the older shinobi was knocked forward. Before he even landed Iruka was in front of him and repeating the attack. Like a ball Sakumo bounced between Iruka's fists back and forth until Iruka thought it over. Not wanting to hurt him too badly, the Uzumaki boy stepped back to give Sakumo breathing room.

But the red-eyed boy just refused to give up or stay down. Like he was working on automatic his arms pushed him up and his legs held him up and his spirit refused to say die.

He spoke, but he wasn't talking to Iruka.

"You don't know who I really am… I'm sick of people thinking they understand me… None of you know a damned thing about me… I have to win…"

"I'm a little impressed that you've lasted this long, but it's going to end now." Iruka slammed his elbow into Sakumo's chest and then twisted it up, hitting the other Genin in the jaw and making him fall to the ground.

And then Iruka saw something that took his breath away and dropped his jaw. With his mouth open he could literally taste the smell of blood in the air, blood that was seeping out of Sakumo's fallen body in vast amounts.

He'd lost consciousness when Iruka hit him, and in those few seconds the illusion that he'd cast on his own body was dispelled. Iruka didn't know when Sakumo had done it; all he knew was that Sakumo was bleeding from deep cuts all over his body and that he'd been hiding that fact from everyone.

But still, even with the copious blood loss he stood. Sakumo stood unsteady, wobbling and dizzy, but he stood.

"IDIOT!" Iruka shouted. "Give up, you've lost."

"I'll… never…" Sakumo raised his eyes to meet Iruka's, "…give up…" The look in those red eyes spoke of defiance and determination. Defiance of his fate and determination to continue at any cost.

"You're bleeding to death, you unreasonable moron!" Iruka turned to address the Examiner. "End the fight, he's dying."

The Sand-nin looked the two boys over, then back at Iruka. He didn't say anything, but the look to his face made Iruka scream in nervous frustration. "End the fucking fight!"

Nothing.

"End it now!" His voice was raw with a fear-tinged anger. "Can't you see he's dying?!"

Iruka turned his whole body to face Ari and moved closer to the Jounin to emphasise the sincerity and sheer urgency of his message. But because of that he barely heard the swish in the air and barely dodged the flying kunai. It tore through his cheek and his blood spurted out from the wound, even as it healed almost before the blade was gone.

In shock the fox boy slowly faced back at his opponent. He looked like he'd seen an entire team of ghosts, and Sakumo looked like he wasn't far off becoming one. How he'd found the energy to throw the kunai was beyond Iruka. With the Byakugan he saw into the older boy's body; he saw the extent of Sakumo's injuries better than anyone else. Above all, it was Uzumaki Iruka who knew just how close to death his opponent truly was.

More than ever before in Iruka's life he held that of another human being in his hand. The decisions he'd make and the choices that were his alone were all that stood between life and death for Sakumo, and glory or defeat for himself.

In the end there was only one choice he could ever have made.

"I give up."

And so Yuuhi Sakumo won the final tournament of the Chuunin Exam.

The Hokage wasn't there to see his son surrender and lose. He wasn't even watching remotely with a Kage Bunshin. Instead Uzumaki Naruto sat by the side of his little daughter Yume and held her hand. She hadn't stirred from her rest, not yet.

He heard the cries and cheers of the crowd and knew from experience what they meant. The fight was over, but who had won? He couldn't tell, not from in there. Had Iruka won? Lost? Was he hurt?

Naruto sensed the oncoming medic-nins perfectly even with his focus on Yume. From the sound of their footsteps they were carrying someone on a stretcher, but not even his ears could tell who was lying on it without turning and looking for real.

The time it took for his head to revolve seemed an eternity. There was no good answer to the question he was asking – Naruto had no desire to see any of the little Leafs injured; his concern did not extend only to his flesh and blood. But all the same when he saw the bleeding and battered form of Sakumo he breathed a sigh of relief, for just a moment.

"So he won…"

"Yeah," Iruka's voice floated out from the entrance over the sound of the doctors working to bring Sakumo back from the brink of death. "He won. I lost."

Naruto looked long and hard at his oldest son, each of them speaking volumes with their eyes. Finally Iruka spoke, "He wouldn't stop fighting."

Naruto understood just what those words meant. He smiled, and put his arm around Iruka's shoulder. "You're growing up Iruka. You did a good job."

"How's Yume-chan?" Naruto chuckled for a moment. "She's fine, just worn out. But, more importantly… you haven't called her that in years."

"Uh, uhh… dad, shut up!" Naruto's laughter built to a crescendo, and as it rose it was infectious enough that Iruka had no choice but to join in.

Father and son, they sat down next to Yume and watched over her. There should have been an awards ceremony, but with only one of the top four Genin still able to stand up it really didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon.

When Sakumo was stabilised Iruka got up and switched to sitting by him instead of his sister. He felt guilty for putting him in such risk in the first place. After some time of quiet Naruto stepped up and over. He looked down at the form of Sakumo. "Huh," he said. "His hair…?" Naruto brushed his fingers through the boy's locks. "I've never seen him without that headband before…

"White hair…" His voice drifted off and his eyes did the same. Then, shaking his head out of the clouds, Naruto laughed to himself and sat back by his baby girl, holding her hand tight.

No one noticed the sand clouding together above them, not even when it formed into an eye. The man to whom it belonged had trouble expressing both his emotions and his concern, but he loved the Uzumaki family as dearly as he could.

The sand dispersed, forming instead of an eye a sentence. Congratulations Yume and Iruka, that was what it said.

---

"Heh."

A young man sat at a desk with his legs up on its surface. He was reading a report.

"What is it?"

Standing behind him was a girl, a little older than him, with long, messy blonde hair.

"I'm just thinking about the Chuunin Exam."

"Which one?" she asked. The man swivelled round in his chair to face her.

"What do you mean? I passed first time, remember?"

She punched him in the arm lightly. "Jerk. Just because it took me a little longer--"

"—Three tries."

"Okay, okay. Just because it took me three tries to pass doesn't mean you get to lord that over me my whole life, Iruka. Who made Jounin first, huh? Oh I believe that would be me. That's right, me."

"Bah, damn you Yume." Iruka spun back and started reading again, deliberately ignoring her.

She held on to her brother's arm and peered over his shoulder at the mission report he was reading. "Oooh, good success ratio for that one bro. Well done."

"Whatever."

"No, come on! Cheer up man, it's a wonderful world out there."

Iruka put down the report and stood up. "Not yet it isn't."

The siblings walked out of the briefing room together. "Right. Now we've got a war to win."

**Author's Note: Did everyone like that ending? Yes, I have moved forward the timeline for the Uzumaki children storyline. What this means will be made clear soon, don't worry.**

**The Heaven and Earth arc is finally over. It's been a long time in the works. I hope that everyone enjoyed it and that no one was too upset about the various victories and losses. I've had a lot of fun writing it, even if it did seem like pulling my own teeth sometimes.**

**I haven't decided what the next chapter will be yet, but I have a few ideas. There are some things I've hinted at a few times that it's about time to clarify.**

**So, please review and tell me what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. So far I've got some pretty cool things planned out.**


	36. Chapter 35

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Wind**

"You complete and. Utter. JERK!"

A woman's fist crashed into the jaw of one Nara Shikamaru, knocking him down and out. She turned her back to his collapsed, unconscious form and spoke loudly to the Leaf Jounin's assistants. "When the bastard wakes up tell him I'll be in his house. If the head trauma gave him amnesia tell him to follow the sound of screams and everything he owns smashing to itty-bitty pieces."

It had been one hell of a good right, so two hours later when Shikamaru came to he didn't need to ask any questions. There was only one person he knew who could and would hit him like that; something that his genius mind was able to work out even when asleep.

In many ways that was his curse. He couldn't stop thinking, no matter how much he tried. His mind was always considering possibilities and ideas and schemes and ideas and notions and ideas. It were like to drive him mad some day, and no day passed without some part of his self feeling lost in a sea of numbers and words.

Few could understand that pain of his. Shikamaru wished he could be like everyone else and live a calm and silent life, but that was not his lot. Few could understand his pain. Those who wish for genius often do so without true knowledge of what it means. Shikamaru could not stop thinking, which is why all the way from his office to his house he was wracking that prodigious brain of his to find the answer to one simple question.

"What did I do this time, Temari?"

"What did you do? What did you do?! What. Did. You. DO?!"

Sighing, Shikamaru said, "Yes, that's what I asked. What did I do? Just tell me quickly so I can fix it quickly and we never have to talk about it again."

"Fix it? Fix it?! FIX IT?!"

"Yes," the black-haired Jounin breathed out. "How can I fix it?"

"How dare you ask that?! You can't ask that! JERK!!" Temari swung at him again, but this time he managed to avoid her raging fist, even if it did leave a red line scratch across his cheek.

"Temari." Shikamaru tried to speak in a controlled voice and slowly, steadily continued. "Temari. What did I do?"

Her eyes boiled red with anger and tears she refused to let free. "I'm pregnant, you colossal jerk."

Shikamaru had considered that possibility in his search for something Temari could be blaming him for, but then he had already dismissed it as well. Why would she be so angry and violent towards him if she were pregnant? It didn't really make too much sense, which he supposed was exactly why he should have guessed.

He smiled.

"I love you," Shikamaru said quietly, holding her head in his hands.

"I hate you," was Temari's response. And she kissed him.

"This is amazing," Shikamaru said through a grin wider than he'd ever bothered to have before. "This is just – wow – amazing."

"I know," Temari admitted. "I know. But we need to talk about it. Really talk."

"I know."

Temari calmed down, and as they made love the couple worked their mutual frustration and excitement out together. Their fingers entwined together in a sign of the tenderness they too often let go unspoken.

Afterwards, while Temari was sleeping off the long trip from the Sand to the Leaf, Shikamaru slipped out of his bedroom, through the shattered remains of his living room and out the door. He made his way over the rooftops above the streets for what was almost the first time ever for him. Shikamaru was by nature a lazy man, so climbing and leaping about like a mad man was not something he did unless he really, really had to be somewhere fast. In this case he needed to see someone and he needed to get there and get back as fast as possible. Temari had already broken too many of his possessions for one day, and he was in no hurry to see any more of that carnage arise.

"Yo," he said as he walked into the bar. "Shikamaru!" Came the delighted voice of one Aikimichi Chouji, accompanied by the acquiescent murmurs of some other friends and colleagues. Chouji gestured excitedly for his best friend to come sit by him, and seeing an adult man wave like he was one-fifth his age was enough to make Shikamaru, senior advisor to the Hokage and chair for this session of the Konoha Ninja Council, grown inwardly. He loved Chouji, and the fact that he had the soul of a child was one of the reasons why, but it could get a little awkward at times.

"Chouji." The grin on his face was enough for Shikamaru to forget any complaints. "Come on, sit sit! And order some food, you need to put some meat on those bones of yours." He always did this, fussing over Shikamaru like he was his mother and not his best friend. Ever since Shikamaru had moved out of his family home into his own place it was as if everyone he knew had been conspiring to see him properly fed and dressed, Chouji chief among them. "You're so skinny!"

"To you Chouji everyone is skinny."

His eyes narrowed. "Was that a fat crack?"

"Would I dream of doing that?"

"You're the only one I'd ever let do it," he paused. "And you know it."

Shikamaru grinned a little. "I do, at that."

Chouji took a sip of his drink and a bite of his steak, and then he spoke. "So what's the problem?"

"Why does there have to be a problem – I can't just come out to see a friend?"

"Please Shikamaru," Chouji laughed a little with his voice. "You're sweating. The only times you sweat are when you're fighting or in a hurry.

"Shikamaru – are we fighting?"

"No."

"Then you were a hurry, and I know you. You're never in a hurry. Not unless it's a problem. So – what's the problem?"

"Temari is… well, she's kinda… you know… she's pregnant."

"Really?" Shikamaru nodded. "That's wonderful! Choumaru will have a playmate!"

"You got any new pictures of my favourite nephew?" Chouji smiled broadly and pulled out a thick wad of photographs. He put them down on the bar in a neat pile, but before Shikamaru could pick the top one up to look at it Chouji grabbed his wrist. "What else is bothering you?"

The Jounin let out a long sigh and leaned back on his stool, his head facing upwards to the ceiling. He pulled something out of his pocket and put it on the table. "Oh," said Chouji. "I can see why that's a problem."

Chouji took the final bite of his steak and sighed in the zenith of satisfaction. "That was good. Now let's get a real meal, what do ya say?"

It was the next day, but Shikamaru's head was still looking up. This time he was lying on top of his favourite hill, on the grass, staring at the clouds as they breezed by. He had one hand on the belly of Temari where their tiny child was already growing.

"Marry me."

Temari blinked. Had she heard that right?

"What did you say?"

Apparently, he hadn't said anything at all, because Shiamaru didn't stir from his rest. Temari took that silence as an invitation to stretch her arm around him and tickle her lover under his chin.

"Sigh," he said. "Do I really have to repeat myself?"

Temari sat up with one hand, pushing up from the ground to look over Shikamaru. She had an unbelieving grin on her face. "You actually said "sigh". That's amazing – I've never heard anyone actually say that."

This time he genuinely sighed, rolling over so she was left talking to his back. "Don't make me say it again."

"Come on," Temari asked. "Do it for me." She hugged him from behind and whispered into his ear. "Say it."

Shikamaru broke her arms away from him and rolled further away. By now he was covered in crushed and broken blades of grass and his clothes were crumpled and creased. He sighed again then rolled back to face Temari, staring into her eyes as both of them lay there.

"Marry me," he said for the second time.

The Sand girl paused, and then spoke. "You look ridiculous," she said with a smile.

"Is that a no?" For a moment Shikamaru's heart stopped.

"Did I say that?"

She kissed him. That was answer enough for both of them.

"Where do you want to live?"

It was a few days later. Temari was still staying with her boyfriend – now her fiancé, she supposed, happily – and it was time for her to put her foot down. Shikamaru was good at ideas and such, but often he trailed through the execution without spirit. It was her job to make sure he kept up his momentum and actually finished what he needed to.

Thus, the nitty-gritty details of their impending marriage and parenthood were left up to Temari to manage. She needed to be firm with Shikamaru, so when he didn't answer her – his mind having drifted off again – she simply repeated the question a little louder and loud firmer. "Where do you want to live?"

He sighed. "Wherever you want to live dear."

"I want to live at home, in the Suna village."

"Then that's okay with me." Shikamaru didn't look up from the files he was reading. So Temari pulled them out of his hands, leaned on the table in front of him and spoke some more. "That's a load of crap. You need to be here. You run this place, you and Naruto, and without you it'd just be that idiot messing things up."

"Yeah, but I love you, and you're needed just as much as me in Suna."

She looked deep into his eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm just another Jounin. They act like I'm important but really it's just because my brother is Kazekage."

"You're important." He stroked her cheek gently. "You are important. You're one of the Sand's top Jounin and you have been for years."

"I'm not as important as you. That's why we have to live here.

"Besides," she added with the beginnings of a soft smile. "It's only right our daughter should live where her only living set of grandparents are." At that Shikamaru put his hand over hers and squeezed. "Thank you."

He picked up his files and started reading them through again. "Then what else do we need to do today?"

"Well we should really do some shopping."

"Isn't it a bit early for baby shopping?"

"Sure, but you need some new stuff."

"Because you broke my old stuff."

"Yes, I suppose that's one contributing factor. But it was some pretty crappy stuff to begin with. To be honest, you needed new stuff anyway, so stop whining about it, you baby." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. It was time to go shopping, no matter how little Shikamaru wanted to and no matter how much work he had left to do.

They had trouble setting a date for the wedding. When the groom was a close friend of the Hokage and the bride was the sister of the Kazekage arranging a wedding wasn't a personal matter – it was an international matter of state and an event of grand proportions. With both the Hokage and the Kazekage attending, naturally the various feudal lords of both countries would be coming. And with them came an entourage of fussy and important men and women from every country. Temari had wanted something simple, but Shikamaru was both realistic and practical and knew it was a good way for the Leaf village and Fire country to gain some political capital, and that was his job.

Temari looked stunning, and even Shikamaru looked good. It looked as if he had put a lot of effort into doing so. That was not entirely the case, but as a best man Chouji was very good at his job. It was a very formal affair, what with every self-important dignitary and noble who wanted to network coming. They both cursed their senses of responsibility but went off with it. After a little way into the ceremony they didn't even care any more. It was enough that they were together and enough that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

Uzumaki Naruto wore his official Hokage robes to the ceremony, but he didn't seem very happy for once. He smiled at the appropriate moments and everything, but at the party afterwards he just stood in a corner in what was uncharacteristic solemnity. Shikamaru noticed, of course, and he casually made way through the crowd of congratulators to his friend's side. Maybe no one else cared enough or saw enough to tell, but even on the happiest day of his life – which was, in fact, that very day – Shikamaru couldn't stop thinking and he needed to know what was wrong. He wanted everyone to be happy.

"What's up?" Naruto chuckled and grabbed Shikamaru by the neck and shoulders, bringing him round to look over the room with him. "See all this? It's a wonderful world we're making here Shikamaru.

"Look over there," he pointed. "Hinata is as beautiful as always, but look at Yume. She gets more amazing every day. I haven't told anyone else yet, but we're having another baby already."

Naruto moved his arm again, sweeping it across the room. "Everyone's here. All my – our – friends. Kiba is trying to pick up your cousin. Chouji keeps one eye on the food in the room at all times, like some sort of predator. Look, look at how Ino keeps Sasuke calm. Her body language is perfectly tuned to his.

"Our old teachers are here too." Ah, Shikamaru thought at that. So that was what this was about. "Asuma keeps sneaking out for cigarettes, even though he doesn't need to. He does it because he's worried about you. Kurenai is talking to our wives like she's their age, swapping tips for new mothers. Gai is…" The two looked at Gai for a moment. "Actually I don't know what Gai is doing."

"But…" Shikamaru started for Naruto.

"Yeah. But, there's someone missing."

Shikamaru put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We all miss him. But it's been two years."

"I know… But I wish he could be here for the days like this. Just for days like this."

The groom patted Naruto on the back. "I know."

"You need to get back to the party."

"I know that too."

Married life was bliss for Nara Shikamaru and Nara Temari. It didn't often look like that to outside observers, but it was. Fights for them were emotional foreplay, but life in their little house watching their baby grow inside Temari and waiting for the day that their little family grew as well was the closest either of them had ever come to pure happiness.

Time passed within that domestic microcosm until Shikamaru's wife was large with life and until it was time. They rushed to the hospital, where Shikamaru demanded to see Sakura. "Where is she?" He yelled. The administrator at the front desk looked like a frightened rabbit as she stammered "I'm – I'm sorry s-sir, but Sakura-sama is in surgery at the moment. It's confidential, s-sorry."

"Confidential?" Shikamaru asked. "Confidential?" He leaned in close to the woman. "You will tell me what Sakura is doing now, and you will arrange for her to deliver my baby, or I will personally make sure you not only lose your job but that you never work in this village – this country! – again."

"I'm sorry sir."

Shikamaru wanted to be there just as much as he wanted Sakura to be the one doing the delivery, but he was shuffled away by doctors, and as much of a genius that he was, Shikamaru did not know about medicine. He was no doctor.

He sat in the waiting room doing just that. There were a few other new prospective fathers waiting with him, but they didn't exactly strike up much conversation. Shikamaru spent the hours leaning back on his chair and looking up at the ceiling. He wished that he could see the sky and watch the clouds go by as he had less and less time to do. He wished for the calming influence of Chouji and the warmth of his wife's embrace. He wished for everything in the world to be right and good and perfect. And he wished that he could stop thinking about how everything could go so, so wrong.

"Nara-san."

Shikamaru leapt to his feet and crossed the distance between his chair and the door in a second. "Is everything okay? Everything's okay?"

The look in the doctor's eyes was more answer than Shikmaru had ever wanted.

"Is it…?" He couldn't finish the question. He just couldn't.

The doctor closed his eyes to keep in his own pain, and when he spoke he said simply. "You have a healthy, beautiful little girl, Nara-san. But I am afraid your wife did not make it. There were complications, and we did everything we…"

The man's words seemed to trail off into silence to Shikamaru. No part of his brain, be it conscious or unconscious registered anything else the other man said.

Some time later – he couldn't tell you how much or how little – Shikamaru interrupted, saying, "I want to see her."

He was led into another room, where a bundle of cloth was put gently into his arms. From within the swaddles of that blanket poked out a tiny little face with closed eyes. Shikamaru had never seen anything so wonderful in his life. He brushed the tears from his face and then stroked those angelic features. "My little Wind Girl," he choked out, his voice thick and coarse with unspoken emotion. "My little Kazeko."

**Author's Note: Yes, this chapter was always planned. If you go back and read previous chapters, you will see that there are little things that will now make more sense. Seriously, go back. I didn't pull this out of my ass. Well, I did, but I did it months ago. Still, I can see why readers might think that, so here I am explaining things.**

**The next chapter will be set in the "future" that I showed at the end of HME3 and should answer some of the questions you might have. Things are going to get interesting.**

**This is not my best chapter by any means, but it has parts that I like. I hope you liked them as well. If you did, you know what to do. I feel a little out of enthusiasm at the moment, so some extra reviews would go far to cheer me up. Not that I'm begging for them or anything. Just a little down. Actually, screw it, I am begging for them. Cheer me up! Sigh.**


	37. Chapter 36

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Six: The Immortal**

No one is perfect.

No one makes the right decisions every day of their life. If you're lucky maybe those mistakes you do make will come rarely, but they will come. They will come.

Some mistakes don't really matter. You can take a wrong turn or forget to do your dishes without it really having an impact on the grand scheme of things. But so mistakes do matter, and some mistakes can have consequences both long reaching and catastrophic in nature. Mistakes are made because no one in the world, not a single person, is perfect. Mistakes happen every day, and you can only hope that your mistakes don't matter, because not everyone is that lucky.

Uzumaki Naruto wasn't perfect.

Few people knew exactly where the war began. The official story wasn't anywhere near the truth. The truth, which was that it was all Naruto's fault.

The Leaf. The Stone. The Sand. The Cloud. The Mist. These are the five great ninja villages, scattered across the world in their secluded hideaways. There are many other hidden villages, but for the most part they are minor and so is their effect on the world. But that is only for the most part, because sometimes even the smallest things can make the biggest changes, and sometimes those tiny villages can change the world.

The alliance between the Sand and the Leaf had lasted many years. When Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of the Leaf and Gaara of the Desert, Godaime Kazekage of the Sand were just boys they fought in a war between their villages. That was before either of them were anything but simple Genin and tortured souls. Now as adults they were men of power, rulers of their people and fathers to their children. They were friends and allies and so were the villages they represented.

Relations between the Leaf and other villages were not so warm. The Leaf and the Stone had fought a war years past, a war which had been won bitterly by Naruto's own father. They had not been pleased to hear that the Yellow Flash had become the Fourth Hokage and years later even less pleased to hear that his son had taken the title. They felt the blood of the hundreds of their people Naruto's father had slaughtered and they felt the insult of a murderer's blood being raised on high. A dynasty built on the bodies of the dead was the last thing they wanted.

The Hidden Mist considered itself neutral. The Water country was separated from the continental landmass by a huge body of water, and so just by their own nature they involved themselves little in the matters of the other countries and the other villages. All the same they had warm relations with both the Leaf and the other village just as isolated as them – the Cloud. There was a difference between the Mist and the Cloud however - one was neutral and the other, the other was not.

When Uzumaki Naruto had been a young Hokage the Hidden Cloud had sent an army to attack. He, along with his two teammates, had fought off that army. It had not been easy, but they had made it look that way. That was another insult that had not been quickly forgotten. But that wasn't the reason the Cloud had declared total war on the Leaf.

There had been a diplomatic visit to the Cloud. Standard affair, nothing special. Naruto had gone, taking his wife Hinata and the youngest of his children. Koyuki and Obito loved the fun of seeing another village a lot more than they'd liked the long trip across country. Hinata was the opposite. She had no love for the Cloud, and the hate she had for them was completely deserved. When she was just three years old she had been kidnapped by one of their ninjas. They had wanted the Byakkugan blood limit that was her inheritance, and so if she hadn't been rescued the best she could have hoped for was to be raped and abused so she could produce children. The worst would have been to be carved up and examined in the hopes the Cloud would be able to copy her powers.

Hinata was terrified for her babies. She didn't want to leave them at home but she didn't want to take them with her. In the end she decided that they were safer with her, but that didn't stop her being scared for every second they were in the Cloud.

Naruto was scared too, but he hid it better. He looked every inch the dignified legend. Bringing his family was a political decision, however, and he had to stick with it. By bringing his wife and children it was a symbol of the trust the Leaf was supposed to have with the Cloud. And that's what it would have been, if only that trust had been in his heart and not just his head.

Koyuki ran off in the streets of Cloud one day. Naruto went after her, and he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. His little girl lying on the ground and a man standing over her. He saw red, and when he came to he had sliced that stranger in half with his own hands. The blood was on his claws before he even realised what he was doing.

And in the end that was what the war came down to. One life taken before its time, one over-protective father and one child who had just tripped.

The man wasn't a ninja. In fact he wasn't much of anything at all. His father, however, was the owner of the Cloud's largest business: a company which owned half the land in the Lightning country and which was a major, major client of the Raikage.

For the son of such a man to be murdered in the Hidden Cloud village itself by the very leader of another village? Retribution was simply inevitable. And frankly it was the justification the Cloud had spent years looking for.

The Leaf village council refused Naruto's resignation, even though he offered it through mournful mask. They were angry, sure, and they were bitter. Several of them wanted him gone. Some still harboured hatred towards the bearer of the Kyuubi. But most came to the conclusion that they needed their Hokage to lead them into the war.

Naruto had gotten into the war because he thought his daughter was in danger, but once the Cloud began their campaign he realised that the war itself meant that every day he needed to send his other children into worse and worse danger every day. Yume and Iruka were both Chuunins when the war started, and Neji was close to becoming a Genin.

By the time the Stone joined the Cloud both of those Chuunin had seen several battles and skirmishes. They had begun to earn reputations - not just among the Leaf-Sand alliance but also with the enemy as well. The need for new Genin had forced forward Neji, and Hanako was already far in her training. It was a far cry for when their parents had waited to be twelve before being promoted that far, and even then it had been a tough trial to pass. Now the Leaf needed as many of their children to become their soldiers as possible, terrible though it seemed.

It wasn't just the five great ninja villages about whom the great war revolved. The smaller villages were caught up as well. One village in particular was central to the struggle, though few would ever know just how important the Hidden Sound was to the conflict.

In the end, the war that killed and ravaged thousands came down to family. It was started thanks to one father and daughter, and another father and his son. And it was family that decided it all, in the end.

"Iruka-dono, it's time."

Uzumaki Iruka jumped from his post and landed softly on the grass. "Where are they?"

The Sand Chuunin locked his brown eyes with Iruka's white. "The enemy force is ten miles to the south. Mai-san has the full report."

"Get her."

Iruka pulled out a scroll, opened it and cut his thumb, smearing some blood onto the seal-work and finishing by throwing it into the air. It changed, turning from that scroll into a pair of steel armlets, which fell directly onto Iruka's outstretched wrists, locking into place. He looked them over, checking one last time, and that was when Okuta Mai stepped out behind him.

"Iruka, you wanted me?" The lack of an honorific spoke volumes more than anything else about her, in the silence.

"Report." It was a firm imperative from years of giving commands, and it was spoken without Iruka turning round.

"Yes sir," Her voice was almost, almost but not quite mocking. The Chuunin had never been happy with her assignment under Uzumaki Iruka. She had never liked him and didn't feel like he deserved to be given so much responsibility at such a young age. To her, it seemed as if the only reason he was given such an significant position was because of who his father was, while people like her were forced to serve under dynastic aristocrats like the Uzumakis.

"The vibrations are strange. There are definitely somewhere between thirty and forty of them. But something is wrong…"

"What?"

"I can't be sure, sir, I'm only a weak little girl. How am I supposed to have an opinion?"

Iruka spun round, facing Mai. His white eyes pulsed with energy and her breath caught in her throat at the sheer presence of his stare. "Mai, I understand that you don't like me, but you are still a citizen and shinobi of the Sand and anything you do to make my job harder is nothing short of treason. You might not believe it but I trust your judgement. Now, report."

"There are thirty-two of them. Adults. They carry themselves like pros, and… they're carrying something else as well. Something heavy."

"What is it?"

Mai's mouth curved, half into a smile and half into a sneer, "I'm not that good."

"Where are they headed?"

"Karinu village," Mai replied.

"No," Iruka said, furrowing his brow in thought. "No. They're carrying something. That means they're important. They're too big a group and too important to be raiding such a minor target.

"It's something else."

Iruka gave a sharp whistle and the rest of the squad lined up. There were ten of them, Leaf and Sand both, and they were some of the best in both villages. This was one of the three joint-village ninja teams, the symbols of the alliance between their two countries. The fact that Iruka commanded one was proof of just how trusted and respected he was as a leader and a Jounin. Not that it hurt that his father was Hokage, of course.

"Alright, we're going to scout this enemy force. Do not engage; primary objective is to identify their target and report back. I repeat – do not engage.

"We're going to find out what they're really up to. Now move!"

In a two-pronged formation the squad dashed across the plain. Iruka took the lead and set their pace. For an Uzumaki running at speed for hours on end was nothing, but Iruka knew well that wasn't true of everyone. All the same, he needed his subordinates to push as hard as they could whenever he needed them to, so as a leader he couldn't let what he knew affect what they had to do. Of course they hardly needed to run for hours this time, just long enough to catch up to their targets.

A mile from the village, coming into a forested part of land in the remote region of the Fire country, Iruka's team closed in on the enemy. With a gesture he pulled them into silent stealth. The eleven shinobi hovered lightly in the trees and watched carefully. Some minutes later Mai nodded her head; her bare arms were held down touching the bark of the tree and she could sense every motion in the whole wood.

The enemy came distantly into view and every one of the Sand and Leaf-nins held their breath in mixed anticipation and fear. Iruka's eyes widened. With his Byakugan he could see them clearly even at a distance, and he could see through the cloth covering their cargo.

Iruka brought his hands up and gestured a few short signs. Everyone knew what they meant. The team spread out in a blurring burst of movement, leaving Iruka stooping on his branch. He banged together the metal bands on his wrists and a clear note sounded through the air, carrying with it a wave of magnified chakra. Immediately the heads of the Sound-nins snapped round to face his direction, their eyes filled with an unbelieving terror.

In that moment of weakness the first wave of his squad struck. A net flew down from above, billowing out over the heads of the cluster of enemy ninjas. Of course a simple net was no problem for trained shinobi to avoid. Or at least that was what they thought – just as the net fell clear, surrounded by a ring of Sound-nins, it jerked up back into the air and swiftly wrapped itself round three of them. They were bound tight, and their struggles were fruitless.

High in a tree, Ebirou held one hand in a careful position as he tied off the chakra strings that had held his net. Reaching inside his jacket he pulled out a cluster of kunai which he hurled at his prisoners, his hands guiding them with new strings with perfect precision and deadly results.

Two of those trapped ninjas slumped down – dead - but as the sharp edge of the kunai pierced his skull the third of them changed. One man's face became another, and it was another Sound-nin who fell in his place. That cruel face was transported away, and it twisted even further as its owner blurred in movement and decision.

While this was happening two more members of Iruka's squad had jumped into the fight, with blades sharp and flashing in the light, and of course the enemy moved themselves as well. The group carrying the cloth-wrapped load ran, going as fast as they could. Around them circled another group, guarding their comrades unyieldingly.

Within the main group two Sound-nins moved in ways that distinguished them from the crowd. One surprised the others when he began slicing with his sword into the man next to him. His face was contorted in shock and disbelief, his eyes showing that he was nothing but a confused puppet. Within the cover of the trees Uchiha Yamino smirked, Sharingan eyes taking in every detail from above.

The other Sound ninja was the one who had sacrificed his own teammate so callously. His hands moved in a long series of seals, and around him the air began to glow hotter and hotter until it burned.

In the dry woodland fire spread fast; flames licked from branch to branch and tree to tree, and it soon became apparent that soon everything around was going to go up in smoke.

The fire did not touch the Sound-nins. It leapt away from them; the flames burning anything and everything around, but never quite reaching them. Through the haze of smoke the Leaf and Sand-nins fought on, but they were losing that fight, and they knew it. Their fears were made evident and flesh when Manju gave a short scream and dropped bleeding and dead to the ground.

But the smoke wasn't the only thing going up into the sky. An arm stretched up, pointing high. "Come," A voice cried out, "Come, rain!" A bolt of chakra flew through the smoke and kept on going. It went as high as it could, up into the clouds themselves, and there the chakra began to work. Those clouds darkened and gathered dense as if in fast-forward, and within seconds they burst. Thick, wet droplets fell down from the now-black sky, and just as quickly as the fire had exploded into life it was quenched out of it.

But there was still a fire in that forest. It was in the white eyes of Uzumaki Iruka as he brought down his arm. "You disgust me," he said with true hatred in his voice, as the arsonist ninja swept his legs in a kick at him. "You killed your own companion," Iruka said as he dodged the kick and pushed his palm forward in the Hyuuga style of fighting. The Sound-nin's mouth curved sinisterly as Iruka made contact with his chest. The hit wasn't strong enough, he thought, right up until his breath caught in his throat. Still with his palm touching the older man's chest, Iruka said a few words.

"Uzumaki Style: Spiral Fist."

The Gentle Fist attacked the internal organs of its target. That was what it had always done. Uzumaki Naruto was no Hyuuga, so he could not use the Gentle Fist, but his wife and his children could. And if there was anything that Naruto was good at, it was creating jutsus.

Iruka shredded the Sound-nin's heart and lungs from the inside, pureeing his organs in a whirl of spinning chakra. He died quickly, but he died painfully, and Iruka didn't care.

Smoke and steam cleared and Iruka's squad could see clearly. The enemy was gone, either dead or fled. And that meant the chase was on.

Ahead of the main group were three members of Iruka's team, chasing after the mysterious cargo of the Sound. They were not enough to defeat or destroy them, so their job was simple: to delay, divert, detain; to do whatever they could to slow them down.

Catching up with them was in itself an easy job, considering they were weighed down so heavily, but it was made even easier by the fact that among those three was the young man named Rock Len. Len, in his green spandex and bowl cut, looked quite the image of his father at sixteen and had his speed as well. But he didn't just take after his father, as the Sound-nins were learning the very hard way. His shuriken met their targets unerringly and with unbelievable speed. If their targets had been anything other than skilled and experienced shinobi they would all have died, but that was exactly what they were. All the same, fallen bodies and deflected blades littered the forest floor, but despite that fact the enemy kept on moving; they moved just as unerringly towards the edge of the forest as the shuriken did towards them.

Shinobi broke off from the guard and made a beeline for Len and his two comrades. They had become too much of a nuisance, and had to be dealt with. It was exactly what Len wanted – after all, Len was expecting an easy victory. But things aren't always as easy as you expect.

One of the Sound-nins held his right arm out towards the three oncoming ninjas, and he steadied his aim with his left hand just below his elbow. He smiled, and nothing happened.

But then everything happened – the world changed, spinning and rolling and churning inside their heads and bodies. The three shinobi stumbled on level ground, trying to steady themselves but failing over and over. It took all their control to stay even remotely upright.

It was luck that saved Len. He fell forward just right for the kunai to miss him. Renki, to his right, wasn't that fortunate, though it was not fatal, and as for Mai, it wasn't luck that saved her. The kunai nicked her, coming deathly close to doing more, but it only did that much because she let it. She'd waited till the very last moment to make her move, and the cost was a line of blood across her bare arm.

A kunai coming fiercely at you would scare anyone, but the emotions behind these ones were nothing like fierce. They were lazy, they were cold but despite that they were not chilling in the least. The man who'd thrown them wasn't expecting any resistance. He was completely confident that the Sand and Leaf-nins were already dead. And that in turn was what killed him, in blood and rage and fire like a death should be.

"Tricks like that won't work on me," Mai said as she plunged her kodachi through the chest of the second enemy ninja. "Sound is just vibration." Chopped down, his jutsu was broken, but for good measure Mai kicked the speaker built into his arm into shrapnel. "That'll never work on me."

Len struggled up, and bent over Renki. "Crap." Len loosened the bandages from around his arms and with a flow of chakra they wrapped round the Leaf Chuunin's wound. "Stay alive Renki, and Ayame will be here soon. But the mission has to continue."

His first step was unsteady. By two steps Len was on-balance. In three, he was moving at speeds beyond human limit. He arced round the enemy group and came at them from the front. Some moved to oppose, but Len was not worried. As the first of the Sound-nins came within arms reach of him, Len reached deep inside himself and did something a lot like flipping a switch. New energy flowed like magma and his muscles twitched in anticipation.

The Sound-nin came at him, but Len dodged with a fluid and effortless movement. With his body working at a hundred percent one gentle shove was enough to end the man's life. The new energy flowing through him might have been intoxicating if it hadn't been so painful.

He put on a second burst of speed as the next of his foes approached. When he spun into a midair kick he moved so fast the air spun out in a whirl, and it was that as much as anything that threw the two shinobi away. They landed

When Len pulled out the shuriken the enemy knew what to expect. The moment the metal glinted in the air they began counter measures. Some simple shuriken were nothing to deal with, no matter how fast or how hard they were thrown. And besides, they had the measure of Len now.

They recognized the green suit Len wore. Who wouldn't? It was the same as the one Rock Lee wore, and everyone knew and feared him. One of the Leaf's three Taijutsu Kings, his name and appearance was famous on one side of the war and infamous on the other. And with that fame came a price – his weakness was well known as well. Rock Lee could not use Ninjutsu and he could not use Genjutsu. And so they were confident also that this younger version of Lee was just the same, that he was swift and strong but nothing else.

It came as a surprise, therefore, when Len jumped into the air and made some seals with his hands, and doubly so when from the air swirled above them. Hands of wind blew through the branches of the trees, picking up their leaves and spinning them together like wool on a loom. A high dome of solid green, knitted together out of chakra and hundreds of leaves covered the enemy squad, and at its peak Len landed lightly, breathing hard. He kept one hand to the surface of the construct, and with the other slowly felt his body all over. To do what he had done did not come easy; to open the Celestial Gates took a toll on his body.

Rock Len was unlike his father in that he could perform Ninjutsu, yes, but he had no particular talent for it. For him to do such a high-level jutsu required more than he normally had. He needed the Gates: to give him that extra boost of chakra, sure, but more for the speed than anything else. He was slow at seals and poor at targeting the effects, and it was only when time slowed down in that rush of power that he could really work something like the Leaf Prison no Jutsu.

"Len!" Mai shouted, having just caught up. "Did you get them all?"

He nodded, still taking in ragged, pained breaths from his torn body.

"How long can you hold it?"

"A few minutes… but I'll keep it up as long as we have to. They're not getting out of here… not while I'm alive." His speech, it was slow and dull, but his eyes were nothing of the sort.

Mai took a scroll out from her vest and opened it, thumbing a series of symbols. A flare, sealed away inside the scroll, was released into the air, and the Sand-nin threw it up high. Doing that marked their exact position for the rest of the squad to find quickly and easily.

Some minutes later Iruka came sprinting there, leading most of the rest of the squad with him. Ayame was absent, as was Yamino, and of course Renki and Manju. Hyuuga Ayame was some way back where the forest was denser and deeper, tending to Renki's injuries. Yamino stayed back for another reason – to be a rear guard, kept in reserve as needed. You never knew what was going to happen.

"Len, are you okay?" Iruka asked. The Chuunin's only response was to nod, but the strain was obvious on his face. Iruka was concerned of course, but not as much as he was about the success of the mission. After all, he knew what was under that cloth and just how dangerous a…

"FUCK!" Iruka came to a sudden and sharply blunt realisation. "Drop the shield, NOW!"

Panic and adrenaline pumped through Iruka's body, which in a roar of power split from one to ten, there at the edge of the forest. Ten Irukas ran at the dome of leaves, Rasengans spinning in the hands of them all. By the time they reached it, the leaves had fallen apart like petals in the wind, and the men left inside were revealed. There were exactly ten of them, as well, or at least there were for the few moments before they met their ends in the Jounin's attack.

But they weren't the only things to be revealed when the prison disappeared. There was a thick and heavy cloth, discarded to a heap in what had been the corner. And there was something else, standing firm in the ground.

"Is that…?" Ebirou asked, eyes wide under his white makeup. "Yeah," Iruka said, down to just two clones now, and surrounding the wooden structure from three directions. Within its masterfully carved opening light was gathering unnaturally. "It's a Portal."

Shock ran like a current through the group

"We have to destroy it. Now. I hope to all the gods there are they didn't have a chance to fully activate it. Explosive notes! Now!"

They worked like a finely tuned instrument, and with the effort of the whole squad soon the entire surface of the rectangular gateway was covered in the elaborate seals of the paper notes. Iruka placed the final one, and put his hand on it, pushed some of his chakra into it and backed away quickly. As the chakra jumped from one connected note to another, he and everyone else expected them to glow briefly and then go off in an enormous blast.

But that isn't what happened. Chakra passed from note to note sure enough, and they did glow, but there was no explosion of any sort. The chakra from the notes was being sucked inside the Portal itself. Cursing, Iruka ripped off as many notes as he could, but it was too late. "Shit! Of all the luck… It's absorbing chakra: we just completed the circuit!"

Iruka whistled, and Yamino hopped forward from her hiding place, coming up close to her leader. He gestured her in close and spoke softly.

"Retreat. This is an order from your commander."

"Iruka..!"

"I said retreat, Yamino. Do it. Get Ayame and Renki, take the squad and go back to base. I'll hold them off."

"Iruka – sir… Iruka, you can't possibly beat them all!"

"I know. But I can hold them off long enough for you and everyone else to get out of here and live."

Yamino struggled with what to say. She settled for grabbing Iruka by the head and sticking her tongue down his throat. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds by necessity, but it was passionate none the less. Breaking off, Yamino looked down and rested her head on Iruka's chest. "Come back alive," she said throatily.

"Hey," Iruka replied, "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"The stupidest guy to come out of the whole stupid Uzumaki clan!"

"Well, that too."

The light within the gateway intensified, forming a shining ball that hovered there just for a moment before bursting into a shower of stars like a firework. From that point where the light had been came now a pinprick of darkness. And it grew all the way until it filled the Summoning Portal from edge to edge.

"Run!" Iruka screamed, and he was obeyed. The squad split off in two directions. The wounded and slower members straight towards home, while Yamino took the rest back into the forest to get the members still in there. They were well gone by the time the Portal began to shake; its trembles foretelling the troubles to come.

Iruka quickly pulled out his remaining explosive notes and scattered them on the ground around the gate. Other than that, he did nothing but wait. He needed to reserve his chakra, because he needed everything he had to fight as long as he would have to if he wanted to give his team and his home a fighting chance.

He didn't have to wait long. He wouldn't have had the time to do anything major anyway, even if he'd wanted to, because it was just seconds after he'd placed the tags that they began to emerge.

The army of the Sound.

The first few out of the Portal were incinerated, of course, by the explosive notes. But only the first few. More and more came out, faster and faster.

The Portal wasn't an actual gateway. There wasn't a duplicate somewhere that the shinobi were walking through and ending up in front of Iruka. Instead it was effectively an enormous seal, binding one location to another and allowing the ninjas to step out from the air in the Sound and appear miles away.

It had much in common with the jutsu that the Hokage used to teleport himself around, but adapted for a time of war.

The wave of ninjas grew outwards, with the Portal itself at their heart. Iruka jumped back to avoid the newly emerging Sound-nins, throwing shuriken where he could spare them. But the Sound did nothing. They didn't consider one enemy ninja much of a threat, and besides – they were waiting for their own Jounin commander.

He was a tall man. Tall and thin, with pasty skin. A corded rope coiled up from his leg, around his torso and to his shoulders, and underneath it he wore a white robe, marked with the emblem of the Sound. He wore his long, black hair in braids, and his eyes didn't contain a drop of humanity.

"Oh look, it's a little flea. Run away flea, or you'll be squished."

Byakugan active, and in the traditional battle stance of the Gentle Fist, Iruka faced down the army. He ignored what their leader had said, speaking his own boasts.

"You know who I am?"

"Judging by your face, you must be one of the fox's brats." The Sound-nin spread his hands wide.

"I said do you know who I am, not who my father is."

"No. And I don't care." Waving a hand to his men, the Jounin made a signal they all knew well. As if machines they threw their kunai all at once, all at Iruka. His body was instantly ruined, and he became nothing but a human pincushion. "Someone clean up that mess. I don't want to waste good weapons."

His command came a little too soon, because Iruka was still standing. His head was bowed down. He wasn't breathing, but he wasn't dead either. He was just holding his breath for a moment.

The cry started human, but by its end it was in the voice of an animal. A fearsome aura whipped up the air, surrounding Iruka, and his cry became a laugh. And with that red chakra came the impression in the minds of all the Sound-nins that the man they were facing was far stronger than they could ever hope to be. But then that was nothing they hadn't felt before, and they would not be deterred so easily. It would take more than that.

Iruka's red eyes looked at them, and his mouth curved at its ends. And then, that was when the kunai burst out of his body, propelled so fast that the shinobi unfortunate enough to be hit by them were left with gaping holes in what had used to be their bodies.

"I am the Immortal of Konoha. You can't kill me that easily."

He took one single step forward, and with that simple movement he broke the resolve of much of the enemy horde. Many of them lost their confidence right there and then, but not their leader. The rope running around his body looked like a snake, and his will was not so easily touched. "Do it again. He can't keep that up all day."

Once again the wave of kunai came for Uzumaki Iruka, though many of the blades were less precise now, the gift of their owners' new fear. But this time they did not reach their target.

Iruka jumped slightly into the air and spun, releasing chakra from all of his body's opening points and shouting "KAITEN!" as he did. Not a single one hit Iruka, not anywhere.

"Oh, and by the way," he said smugly, "You only hit me because I let you.

"Now, let's get started properly shall we?"

**Author's Note: So, how did you enjoy that? As for what happens to Iruka next, well, you'll have to wait and see I'm afraid.**

**About the kiss – you'll find out about what it means later.**

**I don't really have much else to say, except to ask for reviews as always. So please review!**


	38. Chapter 37

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Seer**

"What do you see Neji?"

The teen squinted. "Umm…" He said, noncommittally. "Trees?"

"What else?" His teacher's voice was even, patient. "Umm… Well," Neji started, "I certainly don't see any pits filled with eggs and feathers secretly dug while everyone was asleep."

"This is serious Neji, what do you see?" The man paused. "Besides, we already found that yesterday."

"What? But I--" He noticed the man glaring at him. "Okay, okay. I can see the north forest. There are currently thirteen people within my visual range. Six of them appear to be ninjas, and the other seven look like civilians."

"But..?" The older ninja interjected.

"But, if my guess is right, that one," he pointed, "Is in disguise."

Neji's sensei smiled ever so slightly. "What gave it away?"

"Well, my first clue was that I recognize him - Haru-san, yeah? But, uhh, it was the chakra. It's focused in his legs more than normal. Clear sign he's no regular guy."

"Good. On both accounts.

"Now push your vision as far forward as you can."

The angle of Neji's sight shrank; going from wide and open to sharp and narrow like a needle, and with that the range skyrocketed. Straining hard to concentrate, Neji sacrificed his vision in every direction but directly ahead.

His eyes were like lasers - everywhere he turned he could see for miles.

His teacher, whose name also happened to be Neji, did the same thing with his own Byakugan, and – standing on the village wall behind his nephew - put his hands on his shoulders and carefully positioned him in the right direction. "Can you see the markers?"

The younger Neji murmured in accord. "Can you read them?" Yes, the Genin replied quietly again. "How far?" His sensei asked. "One…" Neji said, "One thousand, three hundred and… twenty metres?"

The Leaf Jounin lifted his hands from the boy's shoulders. "Good, but you can do better. Really try now."

Neji nodded almost imperceptibly, and brought both of his hands together in a concentration seal. Controlling his chakra oh-so-carefully, Neji forced his sight further and further beyond its limits. He inhaled once, sharply, and then quickly and shallowly over and again.

"Two thousand… just about."

"Better, but keep on going."

Neji moaned in complaint, but put more chakra into his eyes, which were already starting to hurt. He pushed his sight one last time, expanding it again – this time only by metres, when he realised something wasn't right. Neji ducked just in time for his uncle's hand to miss the back of his neck.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"A ninja needs to be on guard at all times, Neji. We Hyuuga often rely on our Byakugans to warn us of danger, and that is simply a mistake. Neji!"

The thirteen year old stopped dead in his tracks, freezing in the middle of his impersonation. His hands were held up in the shape of mouths, and he had been miming along with his teacher's speech.

The older Neji glared at his student, who looked down at his feet abashedly. "Neji…" He dragged out the last syllable of their name in admonition. "This is very important Neji - especially in these dangerous times. You have a vast amount of potential, Neji, and that is the only reason why I chose to take you as my apprentice rather than fighting in this war. But if you squander that potential then both of us are just wasting time and wasting the lives of our countrymen, and that is just inexcusable."

They looked at each other for a moment, and then the whiskered boy hung his head. "Yes sensei. I'm sorry sensei."

"That's alright. Now what was I saying, mm?"

"It's important to stay on guard at all times and not to rely on the Byakugan, because you never know what's coming next. Do you know who taught me that?"

"No…" Neji murmured despondently.

"Your father."

"Oh." He smiled a little at that, feeling better.

"But!" The Jounin started. "Don't think you're getting off lightly Neji-kun. Go to Level Two."

"Aww, no! That always stings like crazy!"

"You need to practice it too. Now hurry up."

Sighing, Neji clasped his hands together again and closed his eyes. He reached deep down inside himself, searching for that hidden source of power that was buried in his blood. It was tricky, fluttering fluidly in and out of his grasp, but it was his soon enough. And with that, his eyes were open again, red and black and white this time, and with that his sight stretched out again, but further and clearer than before by miles. His face was scrunched up, wincing from the pain, but his eyes were open all the same.

The Hyuuga guided his nephew for a final time, hands on shoulders to point his sight in the right direction from atop the wall.

"How far this time?" He asked.

"Umm…" Neji paused. "Eleven thousand, but I see… Hold on, Neji-sensei… It's Aniki's team! They're back!"

"All of them? Is Ayame there? Is she alright?"

The colour drained from Neji's face, and his sensei knew immediately that something wasn't right. He concentrated his own Byakugan, and looked as far as he could. Not as far as Neji's demon-powered eyes were capable of, but Hyuuga Neji was not known as the greatest master of the Byakugan ever to live for no reason. He could see the returning team of Leaf and Sand-nins, which meant he could see that two of them were missing. And one of those two was Uzumaki Iruka.

Neji wouldn't ever admit that at first he'd been relieved. He loved his nephew Iruka, but in that moment, seeing that his daughter was safe meant much more.

Both of them hopped down, together, and ran to meet the team of shinobi.

Uzumaki Neji was thirteen years old. He'd been living in the middle of a war for two years, and unlike his friends, his family, he had seen hardly any combat. Instead his days were filled with a frantic pace of training, training and more training. It was unusual for a Genin to be taken as apprentice by an elder ninja, rather than becoming part of a three-man team, but it was not unheard of by any means. And Hyuuga Neji had always had a soft spot for his namesake, in part because of their shared name but also because they shared something else – a talent for the Hyuuga arts.

Neji had one thing that his uncle didn't, though: the demon power that his father's blood granted him. It was a power that had manifested itself differently in every child of the Uzumaki clan – in Yume, in Iruka and in Neji the power was different.

In some ways the younger Neji was bitter. He wanted to be making a difference out there. He was thirteen years old, and he had barely left his home in all that time.

Of course it was hard enough for Naruto and Hinata to send out their two eldest to fight, let alone any of their younger members of their clan. But they couldn't argue with the fact that both of them had been fighting from ages younger than Neji.

Master and student, both ran with Iruka's team, keeping pace to the operations base where the war leaders were waiting for the latest reports from the front line and everywhere else.

It was a low, round building erected in the centre of the village at the beginning of the war, but to call it a building was pushing the boundaries of believability, really – a large tent would be more along the right lines. It was designed to be mobile, and so at any time the base could be taken apart and moved wherever it was needed, whenever it was necessary.

Pushing aside the flap of the door, they walked into the base. Immediately arms crossed in front of them, blocking their path.

"Sasuke," an authoritative voice spoke, needing to say nothing else. The head of the reborn Uchiha clan turned his head slowly to face the group, his eyes glowing darkly with his bloodline. "They're clean," he responded, "But Neji has been making your son practise with his new eyes again."

"Sir," started Ebirou, bowing his head and knee to the Hokage. "Our mission was unsuccessful. Over the past week we fulfilled our initial responsibilities with little difficulty, but yesterday we encountered a special squad of Sound enemies. They were carrying a Summoning Portal, and while we eliminated every member of their team we were unable to prevent the Portal from being activated. Squad Leader Uzumaki Iruka-san remained behind to hold off the enemy forces, but ordered the rest of the squad to retreat and report back to you."

Naruto leant his neck back to look at the ceiling, keeping his thoughts locked up underneath his head of messy hair and the large red and white hat that covered it. He let out a long sigh, and then looked back down at everyone else waiting. "He'll be fine. He is Konoha's Immortal, after all." There was a wry humour in his voice, but it was only there on the surface, there to cover up.

The report continued, with more details given from every surviving member of the team. The pink-haired Hyuuga Ayame spoke to her mother, Sakura, exchanging information that no one else in the room had the expertise to understand, while other members marked out enemy positions on various maps. In the meantime Uzumaki Neji was becoming increasingly and increasingly bored and frustrated. He didn't exactly relish listening to boring sets of coordinates and statistics in a normal situation, and when he'd been told that his brother was almost certainly dead? He wanted to run out there and bring him back in person, but he knew that he was powerless. He was just one boy, and no matter his skills too weak to go against a whole army.

When he'd finally had enough, Neji got up and sidled out to the door flap. Before his hand pushed it open he heard a voice ring out over the busy hum. "Neji, hold up. I need you for something." It was his father, and for a moment Neji's heart sang. This was going to be his big moment! This was when he was going to get his first real mission!

But he had no such luck. "Neji, go fetch Yume and her team. Tell them about Iruka, and tell them – tell them it's important."

He ripped open the exit with violence, and taking a step out slammed his foot down into the dusty ground. Everyone still inside heard his shout of "BYAKUGAN!" and felt the angry roar of Kyuubi chakra burst out from his body. His vision spread throughout the whole of the Leaf village, and in moments he had found his sister.

Neji leapt over roofs and ducked through several alleys in what years of experience had taught him was the quickest route, and he did it even faster than usual. It was always a good way for him to work off steam and let him think clearly. Neji had always found that his best plans and pranks had come to him while dancing through the streets, but there was nothing in his head about pranks now. He was filled with concern for Iruka, envy for Yume and wrath for everyone else.

Swinging off a high tree branch and spinning, Neji came to a stop right in front of Nanaka Jo. The masked Chuunin wasn't all that many years older than Neji himself, but he was still allowed out on important missions, even though he was the only member of his team not to be a Jounin. Neji didn't like Jo. He didn't like the haziness that he saw whenever he tried to look at Jo with his Byakugan, a product of the brown-haired shinobi's unique clothes.

Jo raised a hand in greeting. "Hey Neji, what's up?"

"I've got to talk to my sister."

"Fine, that's okay. We'll talk some other time, alright."

Without even looking at him, Neji turned and whistled. A little distance away, in different directions, Uzumaki Yume and Yuuhi Sakumo turned, looked at the serious expression on Neji's face and then, in a blur of speed from Sakumo and a puff of smoke from Yume they were standing next to him. "What is it?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Dad wants you for something. It's… it's probably to do with Iruka. His team came back without… without him. He stayed to fight a Summoning--"

"—A Portal?!" Yume interrupted. "What? That complete idiot!" She brushed past Neji and shouted back to her friends. "Jo, Sakumo, come on!" She looked around for a moment, then oriented on a tree nearby. "You too Konohamaru-sensei!"

The scarf-wearing Jounin hopped down and pocketed his copy of Itcha Itcha Revolution. He didn't say anything.

The four of them set out at a high pace, and for a moment Neji was left there standing in their wake. He sprinted into action behind them, struggling to keep up and gain his lost ground.

He arrived at the operations base just a few seconds after them, but a lot more tired. Oh he could keep going for a long time still – he wasn't an Uzumaki for nothing – but it just left him even more frustrated than before, feeling more and more worthless. He breathed deeply a few times before pulling open the flap and stepping back in.

The four members of his sister's team were already deep into a briefing. Neji did nothing but look down at his feet in dejected self-disgust.

Breaking his misery came Uchiha Yamino, popping up beside Neji and putting her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, cheer up kiddo."

"Don't call me that," Neji said with a bitter angriness lining his throat.

"Okay, okay. But cheer up all the same. You think I'm not upset about Iruka? Because I – I – I," she smiled thinly and rubbed her eyes, "I'm upset too. You know that, right?"

Neji felt awful, so awful he squeezed his own wrist tight until he could really feel it through everything else.

"I – you know I," Yamino didn't seem to be able to find the words, no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears before they could form. "I--"

She didn't get a chance to finish, because right then someone else burst through the door and shouted: "What happened?!!!" It was more a demand than a question.

Nara Shikamaru, chief strategist for the Leaf, got to his feet slowly and moved over to meet his daughter. "Kazeko-chan, come and sit down."

She didn't budge, standing there with her black hair down and her body wrapped in soft cloth. "What. Happened." She repeated. It was Naruto who answered.

"Iruka stayed behind to fight off a Portal all by himself."

"But he's alive, right? He's okay, right?"

Naruto's eyes clouded over with pain. "We don't know, Kazeko."

"Don't say that - he's alive! He has to be. He has to be!"

Shikamaru put his arms around her, but Kazeko pushed him away and stepped further towards the Hokage. "What happened?" she pleaded, not wanting to hear the answer again.

No one spoke, not until a dark expression crossed Kazeko's face. "I should have been there," she said. "If I'd been there it wouldn't have happened. Everything would be okay. I should have been there." She wasn't afraid to show her tears, at least at first.

She smeared her face with the white sleeves of her gown.

"You don't know that. None of us know that."

Kazeko nodded, slowly, but with her face clear again she made a declaration. "I'm going to get him back, even if it kills me." She turned, to make her way out, but turning was as far as she got. Naruto appeared in front of her, even though most of the people in the base hadn't even seen him move.

"No, you're not. You're still injured, and if you did that then all that would happen is you'd be throwing your life away… as well."

"We need to bring him back!"

Naruto stared deeply into her eyes, matching her pain with his own. "And we will.

"Konohamaru's team are going. They'll bring him back."

Yume came and punched Kazeko gently – more of a nudge than anything else – "Yeah! Don't you worry, Kaze-chan! He'll be back before you know it!" She leaned in and whispered something in the other girl's ear, something no one else could hear.

"I'm going."

The voice surprised everyone, not least its owner.

"I'm going," Neji repeated. "He's my brother."

"No," said Naruto simply. "You're staying right here Neji."

"No! My eyes are better than anyone else's! I can find him faster and better than any of you!"

"You're not going Neji, and that's final." There was no room for argument in the Rokudaime's voice, but Shikamaru put his hand on Naruto's arm all the same and spoke softly. "He's right, Naruto."

Naruto faced the other man, ignoring his son altogether. "He's too young! I won't allow it."

"We had missions just as dangerous when we were younger than him."

"That's – that's not the point. We were young and stupid and it's a miracle we survived."

Uchiha Sasuke looked down at those words, biting his bottom lip until it left a mark.

"Naruto," Shikamaru responded. "We can barely afford to send Konohamaru's team. We need to send as many people as we can spare, and Neji is wasted here. You know he is."

There was a long pause, everyone waiting for Naruto's – the Hokage's - final decision. Finally all he did was nod, and when he spoke he spoke to Konohamaru. "He's not to engage the enemy. He's a scout, and nothing more." He nodded. "You got it, Naruto-sensei."

The briefing continued from then on, but now with Neji at its heart, learning everything that the others were being told as well. He loved it, a fact that made him hate himself. He shouldn't be so excited, he knew. But he couldn't help it.

When the five of them were ready – as ready as they could be, anyway – they got up and left. It was the other Neji, the older Neji, who stopped Konohamaru with a few words. "Make sure he comes back."

"He's my nephew too, Neji. Naruto is the closest thing to an older brother I have, and I'm married to his aunt. He's my nephew – they both are."

The two Jounins nodded to each other in recognition, and that was all they needed.

Giving it a slow start, the new team ran. They ran along a road for a while, then after a few minutes ducked into a forest, where they began leaping from branch to branch, sailing through the air. Neji was pleased to find that he could keep up with them, and do it comfortably to boot.

When they were a good few miles away, when they were beginning to enter uncertain territory, that was when Neji started to feel like things were a little tough. He hadn't really noticed how they'd gradually been accelerating, not until he realised that he was really actually trying, and that it wasn't all that easy keeping up with them after all.

After a few hours of that, Konohamaru signalled back to the others. "White formation." Neji looked at the others confusedly, but they moved seamlessly into a line around him. Sakumo moved in front of Neji, and Jo to his back. Behind Jo was Yume, or one of her anyway, because suddenly there were two more. The other two were well ahead of Sakumo, keeping the six of them in cleanly moving in the shape of a Y. Only their leader wasn't part of the careful shape, instead moving in a sort of wavering arc to the head of them.

"This way Yume can keep watch in all directions with her Byakugan," Jo explained, speaking quietly into Neji's ear from behind. "Konohamaru-sensei is staying away from us so that he can protect us in case there's a problem. And the two of us are looking after you. We use this formation a lot when we're escorting clients. Well, not so much anymore, but we used to."

They ran into the first enemy only after they'd been travelling for three hours. He was a Sound-nin, and he was nearly dead as it was. Blood had seeped out from his gut and into the grass, staining the ground all around him. "Jo," Sakumo said, and the Chuunin ducked down beside the fallen shinobi, his hands whirling in a complex set of seals. Finally he touched one hand to the man's bloody leg, and he gasped in a hacking breath. "Sir," he mumbled. "I don't think I'll make it… Please, tell him…"

"What happened?" Jo asked. The dying man's eyes were unfocused, looking at something that wasn't really there. "A demon… he fought… he wouldn't die. I killed him… but he wouldn't…"

Those were the last words the Sound-nin ever spoke. There was neither time nor desire to mourn his death from any of the five Leaf-nins standing there. Instead, Yume whispered "Iruka," with a smile.

This time when they carried on their way, they knew they were close. So close that Neji knew it was time to use Level Two, for the third time that day.

He didn't find Iruka, even with that amazing increase in his vision. The enemy had run and crawled a long way, with a wound that had taken many hours to finally end him. Neji didn't find Iruka, but he found something else. He found smoke. A great tower of smoke climbing into the sky, and the enormous fire that it came from.

Neji pointed, and they changed their tack to head straight for the pyre. They were a little closer when the wind changed, and Sakumo smelled it, just as Neji saw it. "My god," he whispered. "I know that smell." He turned a little green from the scent, which got stronger with every second they got closer, and also from the memories it revived in him.

By the time they reached the source of the rising haze all of them needed to cover their mouths to block as much of the stench as they could. There was nothing like that cocktail of blood, fire, death and roasting flesh to turn ones stomach.

There were hundreds of bodies. Or at least there had been, before someone had gathered them all into a heap of torn and broken corpses and set them alight.

Even through the fire they could see that some of those bodies hadn't been dead. They could see them, blackened bones still held in reflections of screaming pain and agony.

"They're monsters," was all Neji could bring himself to say. "This is what we're fighting?"

"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice," said Jo. "All of us want to stop them, just as much as you."

Konohamaru didn't say anything, he just stood like a pillar of strength, and with some seals he brought an end to the blazing flames. With that much smoke it wasn't hard to bring down some rain. As it died down, something else was spotted from under cracks in the mess of death. The Portal itself; charred and wholly ruined.

"Look," Sakumo said, still finding it harder to breathe than the others. "It's cracked and broken in two. It was broken before they burnt it. So if he's--"

"If he's alive?!" Yume shouted, butting in. "Don't you start with that!"

"Yume, look at what happened here. He killed a lot of them - a lot – but there's no way he was the one who set that fire. He lost, eventually. And you've got to face the fact that he's either dead, in their hands, or gone, and do you think he would have run away?

"He broke the Portal, he stopped their attack. He's a hero."

Yume grabbed him by the cuff of his outfit and lifted Sakumo into the air. "You better believe he is. And we're going to get him back."

"You have to consider all the options, Yume," Sakumo said calmly.

"No, she's right," Konohamaru said, bringing their little scuffle to an end with just three words. "The odds of them actually being able to kill him out right are pretty slim, and if they beat him then they would definitely want to capture him. He's the son of the Hokage and one of the most important Jounins we have. The coalition squads are famous for their political significance, you know that.

"The Portal is broken, so they had to have taken him back the old fashioned way. We can still do this."

"But you don't know any of that," Sakumo said. "He could be rotting in that pile there and we'd never know."

"Not unless we go and find out," Jo said with what they assumed was a smile under that mask of his.

"So the five of us are going to chase after an unknown number of Sound-nins," Sakumo started, "Probably following them all the way to the Sound village, infiltrate an enemy stronghold and fight off possibly their entire army to retrieve someone whom we don't even have the slightest clue whether he's still alive in the first place?"

"That sounds about right," Yume replied, grinning widely.

"Just wanted to make sure," he said, rolling his eyes. "This is so stupid."

"It's our mission," Konohamaru said decidedly.

Neji stayed silent. This was a little more than he expected for his first real mission.

**Author's Note: Another chapter down. I'm sorry for the long wait on this one, really. I had a middling case of writer's block. The actual chapter was pretty much written in the last few days, in truth.**

**Not really too much to say to you guys this time. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, but I could understand if it wasn't as good as the last one, since this was really much more of an effort to expand the story rather than to further it that much. Just wait for the next chapter, is all I can say, because I promise it will be interesting…**

**I hit 600 reviews with the last chapter, and then just kept on going. It's something like 640 now! That was so, so awesome. So keep on reviewing! Do it! **


	39. Chapter 38

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Traitor**

The village of Hidden Sound was a strange place by anyone's measure. Most ninja villages were formed out of necessity – to escape the brutality of danger – or out of a desire for prosperity. People banded together to work and fight, not for what they believed in but for what they wanted out of life.

The Sound village, on the other hand, was formed solely to serve the needs of one man – Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Three Ninjas of Konoha, and a traitor to his home, a man who'd been exiled for butchering and mutilating his own people. You would have to be mad to follow such a man, to pledge your life to serve him.

And so Oto village was formed not out of necessity but out of madness instead. One man's obsession with power, and the insanity of those who worshipped him. There was something about him that inspired a great loyalty in his followers. Why anyone felt they could trust a man who'd made a life out of betrayal and destruction was an utter mystery.

But just as Orochimaru was a traitor so too were those he surrounded himself with. He recruited the scum of the world; the abandoned and lost and the exiles just like him. But because of the loyalty he demanded from his he never expected that they might betray him in turn.

Orochimaru's second goal for the Sound village was to destroy his former home, destroy those at the Leaf who had spurned him. And he'd done more to hurt Konoha than anyone else, ever. But it earned him their wrath in turn, and the wrath of the Rokudaime Hokage was what killed him.

Naruto had been gone when Orochimaru had attacked the Leaf, and he came back to find ruins and death, worst of all being the news that his own sensei was among the lost. Hatake Kakashi had been killed, though he'd taken an arm and an eye of the Snake Sannin before the end. Naruto, and his two teammates, had missed the entire thing. Their old teacher was already dead and buried by the time they got home.

Naruto had taken his revenge, casting judgement on Orochimaru for his crimes. But before the monster had been killed, he had been betrayed by the one he trusted above all else – Kabuto. Kabuto was no stranger to betrayal. After all, he'd betrayed Naruto as well, many years before.

The Hidden Sound was a village of traitors, of spies and villains and criminals. Betrayal came hand in hand with their creed. So it was no wonder that their role in the war ended the way it did.

"Why don't you know yet?"

"My apologies, Kabuto-sama, but they're too far away. I am sure that everything is going according to plan."

"You are?"

"Yes my lord." The man bowed his head in reverence. That head of his was bald, covered with scars from countless surgeries. It was a common sight in the Sound, and had been since its genesis all those years before. Both of the leaders of the Sound had treated its people as walking experiments, twisting and changing their bodies in every way, just to see what worked and what didn't. Many of them died, or might as well have done, but those who lived and were transformed were more useful then, more useful to Orochimaru or Kabuto.

"Well then," Kabuto stated coolly, "You're even more of an idiot than I thought. Of course everything isn't going to plan. The Summoning Portal was activated too soon. Clearly they weren't in position, which means something went wrong.

"Perhaps I could accept someone of your limited mental faculties not realising that, but even you should have understood that when the Portal shut down forcibly something was most definitely not right."

Kabuto sighed. He was not an angry man, or an emotional one. He preferred to keep his cool at all times. His predecessor would have killed someone for such stupidity, but Kabuto didn't believe in such brutality. It was a most appalling waste of resources.

"Take him away," Kabuto said, gesturing to his side. A statue of a man came to life beside him, moving from perfect granite stillness to imposing action. Ushui was his name, and he knew exactly how many hours of torture Kabuto wanted the fool to endure. And then, once it was done, he would be treated for his injuries and sent back to carry on working. It was a much more effective system.

"I want patrols doubled, and Squad Eight is going to do a direct investigation. We need to know what happened before we can make any further decisions. I want this done fast."

The other half of that declaration didn't need to be said, not out loud. Everyone knew.

High above the village was the sky, and that sky was beautiful and clear. The Sound was too far away, much too far away for the plume of smoke to be visible. The fire that created it was gone now, but there had been far too much smoke for it all to clear away so soon.

If the Sound-nins had been able to see the smoke maybe they would have known what had happened. Maybe they would have realised just how bad things were, for everyone.

The shinobi left Kabuto's meeting room in silence, and the grey-haired ninja remained like that as well. He ran his hands over the fine veneer of the armrest of his chair for a moment, feeling the cool smoothness of it, and then reached to its underside for a dial. With a turn the room darkened, each of the lights that ran round its edge dimming at Kabuto's command. It was control, and control was very relaxing.

"Father," came a voice from out the darkness. "I am here." There really was a warmth to the voice, but there was something else within it as well; something indefinable, something not hidden, but something that couldn't be grasped easily.

In that twilight Kabuto couldn't see the boy, but he didn't put the lights back on. He didn't need to; he could sense Samaru just fine. "Father, my toys are broken again."

"Is that so? Well, bring them over and I'll fix them right up for you." He smiled.

"Someone needs to clean up though, Father… They bled all over my room."

Samaru left then, just as quietly as he had arrived. His body flowed from one place to another like liquid shadow, his red eyes like a hunter's capturing everything they saw. But then, just for a moment, he flowed back. "I feel something. Something is happening, Father." And then, with just that, he was gone.

The team of Leaf-nins were miles and miles away from Kabuto and his village. Uzumaki Yume, Uzumaki Neji, Yuuhi Sakumo, Nanaka Jo and Hyuuga Konohamaru.

Konohamaru led the team. He was one of the strongest in the Leaf – trained Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage himself. He was also married to the head of the Hyuuga clan, which made him uncle to the Uzumaki children, including the two travelling with him and the one they were going to rescue. The name Konohamaru had made for himself in the world was minor, though that was not a reflection on his strength or power, but rather on just how skilled, how deadly he was. He didn't leave traces.

If Konohamaru led the team, it was Sakumo who was leading them. When he was a child and right up until he was thirteen, Sakumo had worn a covering over his hair, but now he'd abandoned that. When he'd first removed it, his hair had been very pale - almost white - but since then and with sunlight it had darkened to a silvery grey, a strong contrast to his the red colour of his eyes. Somewhere along the line he'd picked up the ability to use chakra to greatly enhance his sense of smell, and it was that power that guided the group on their way, hunting the remains of the Sound army. Sakumo was a complex person, and there was no one who truly understood him.

Uzumaki Yume, on the other hand, wasn't complex at all. She was simple, really – not stupid, but pure-hearted. Her convictions were strong and whole, and she never wavered in supporting them. Her greatest goal was to one day become Hokage, even if her greatest fear was that she knew she couldn't.

The fourth member of their team was called Nanaka Jo. He was trained to use Genjutsus, and he was good at it. His mother had taught him most of what he knew, and she was even better. She had been a refugee, seeking asylum in the Leaf years ago with her tiny baby son. Jo wore a mask covering his lower face, which he very rarely took off. It was only with those he trusted completely that he dared to take it off, and that list of people was very, very small. Besides his mask he wore a set of robes, and underneath those was his special suit, covered in seals that cast a Genjutsu on anyone who could see it.

The final Leaf-nin following the trail wasn't a regular part of their team, but he was the little brother of Yume, and of Iruka too. Iruka was the very person they had been sent to find. He was a leader of his own special squad made up of forces from both the Leaf and the Sand, and when there'd been a terrible situation Iruka had sent them away, leaving just him to fight off an army. That was the last anyone had seen him – anyone who wasn't an enemy, at any rate. Uzumaki Neji had gone with his sister's team because he was available, willing and because he had a special power. All of the Uzumaki children had the Byakugan, but only Neji had what he had. He could supercharge his bloodline, magnifying its abilities over. That was his gift.

Sakumo followed the mixed brew of scents as best he could, which was damn well. It wasn't as if there wasn't more of a trail to follow too, because there was - the enemy had been travelling far too quickly to have covered their tracks properly, that was sure. But even if they had done this particular group of ninjas was far too good and far too skilled to let something like that stop them. So Sakumo had plenty of time to concentrate on something else. While they ran he took in the odours of the hunt, sifting through them carefully, carefully. He was looking for anything that might indicate that Iruka was still alive.

"We're catching up with them," Jo stated. Konohamaru dropped back to run level with the Chuunin. "Just about," he replied. "But they've got a hell of a lead."

Sakumo grunted. Jo sighed. Yume snorted. They'd been friends for a long time, long enough for everything to have its own private meaning among their group.

Jo was the one to carry on the conversation. "But, it's a long way to the Sound. If things keep up as they are, we should catch them in time."

"No," Konohamaru said. "No, we won't. Not quite."

"You sure?" Jo asked. Konohamaru looked at him. "Of course."

"So we speed up?" The brown haired boy asked. "What else can we do? If we don't, we'll have to invade the village!"

Sakumo spoke, his voice raised so Jo could hear him from behind. "So we speed up. As long as you think you can handle it, Jo."

"Oh I can handle it. Question is: can you?" An old joke. Yume's stamina was so… the only word that fit was ridiculous… that essentially there was no difference between the two of them whatsoever. Sakumo normally got tired before Jo, but both of them would be collapsed on the ground long, long before Yume.

Konohamaru set the pace for the group. Yume and Neji could have – and would have – gone faster, but it was important that all of them be able to keep up and not tire themselves out.

Jo liked travelling. He liked the feel of dashing over the earth and gliding through the air. He liked the sense of freedom it gave him; freedom from responsibility and duty, those were the things he craved. And when he was soaring through the trees, that was when he was happiest, really; when his thoughts were on nothing but the wind in his feet.

"There's a patrol to the northeast," Neji spoke up, many hours later. "Four miles away…" He paused, waiting a moment and watching. "They're moving due west."

"Sound-nins this far south?"

Neji nodded to his uncle. "We have to take them out," Jo came out with suddenly.

"What?" Sakumo said angrily. "That's ridiculous! We don't have time to mess around here - we need to get to Iruka as soon as possible!"

"And what happens if they spot us and we don't get rid of them? Besides, they might have information we need. The more we know the easier this will be, because none of us know the slightest thing about the Sound village. We're at an enormous disadvantage, if you hadn't noticed Sakumo, and we need every edge we can get…

"Konohamaru-sensei?"

The elite Jounin said simply "Yes," and that was that. "Neji, just stay back and let us handle this."

"I didn't come with you just to watch!" the Genin exclaimed with impassioned haste. "I know," Konohamaru replied quietly. "But you don't have as much experience fighting as us, and you don't know how to work with us yet. Just hang back for this one, and I know you can catch up quickly."

"Okay."

In no time at all Team Five was upon the enemy. Neji had never seen anything like it. He'd seen better and stronger ninjas at work – he'd been training with his father and his uncle Neji his whole life – but he'd never seen such synergy before. It was one thing for Kage Bunshins to work together, and quite another for such different people with different styles to work together so perfectly.

Jo seemed defenceless at first, like a bewildered animal caught in the gaze of a of a tiger, with nothing to do but wait for death to come, but nothing could be further from the truth. Two of the Sound-nins chose him for a target, but that was exactly what he wanted. Jo made himself a target, because that was the best way to control the situation. As long as the enemy wanted to kill him, they weren't trying to kill his friends.

Knives slashed and Jo's clothes and flesh tore to shreds, blood splattering in airborne arcs. The two ninjas pulled back and spun to move on to someone else in automatic, and it took them precious seconds too long to realise their mistake. The image of Jo hazed in the air and reformed, whole. His robe was gone, vanished, and his bodysuit below glowed a sombre red. Those spare moments were all Jo needed to follow through, kunai piercing both of their hearts.

Konohamaru was a force amongst himself. He was an unstoppable dervish, spinning from person to person and leaving only corpses behind. But he didn't move too quickly, or kill too many of the Sound-nins. He left just the right amount of the work up to his students. One of the patrol moved a little too close to Neji for comfort, but before the young Genin could do anything to save himself, the Jounin's scarf snapped out and wrapped neatly around the man's neck. With one tug his neck broke, just as neatly, and the scarf furled back around Konohamaru's body all on its own.

With just one Sound patroller left, after Yume and Sakumo had taken care of their own share of the work, he had to know that he was about to die. And with the cruelty of those with nothing left to lose, he made one final attempt to lash out against his killers. Giving all he had left, he went straight for Neji. When their eyes first met the fox boy was taken aback, feeling the chill of death reaching for him, but sure enough his instincts and his training took over. One hit was all he needed.

"Good work," Yume said as she came over. "Right on the heart, bro, couldn't have done it better myself."

"Yeah," Neji, who was panting, but not in exhaustion, said. "Damn right you couldn't."

His sister hopped over and put her hand on his shoulder then, giving that up, put him in a friendly headlock and rubbed her knuckles over his scalp. "Oww! Ahh! Quit it!"

"Yume," Konohamaru started. "We don't have the time."

"I know," the blonde girl said with a downcast expression. "But, you know, it was… Besides, Jo hasn't finished yet."

"Okay, but make it quick."

Jo was crouched down on the ground, looking over some of the Sound-nins he'd huddled together. It was time for him to really exert himself. The brown-haired teen placed a hand on the head of one of the barely-alive men and closed his eyes.

As if an electric current was running through him, Jo convulsed in violent spasms. It was his third one so far, and the strain was taking its toll. By putting pressure on their heads in specific places and letting chakra run into their brains Jo was able to temporarily join their minds. It was a very complex art, creating a connection between the two of them with an advanced, shared Genjutsu.

"Hurry it up," Sakumo said from behind him. He was holding Jo, steadying him. The masked Chuunin broke off the contact sharply, his hands shaking a little, and moved on to the fourth Sound-nin.

Inside his own head, Jo was running. From the other man's memories he'd created a construct of the Sound village, made as good as possible. Jo ran through it, trying to remember every detail of everything he saw. Intelligence was the key to survival.

As Jo jerked away, he reached his hand out automatically to the next one, but Sakumo caught his wrist swiftly. The Jounin held it gently, but with enough force to keep his friend from moving anywhere nearer one of the enemy. "That's enough Jo," Sakumo said firmly. "That's enough. You're not doing any more – we both know you're going past your limit."

"Yeah," Jo said in response. "Yeah, yeah you're right. Thanks."

"Did you get anything useful?"

"I think so… I'll fill you in on the way."

Jo stood up, pulling out a scroll from a pouch and opening it as he did. He thumbed one of the seals on it, and in a puff of smoke he was wearing an all-new set of robes, which he tucked the scroll back into.

The five Leaf-nins set out once again, huddled closer together on their flight this time so that they could all hear Jo's quiet explanations. He detailed carefully everything he could remember and everything he could piece together from the hazy memories of the dying.

Neji didn't know how to feel. The hours passed and his emotions bounced from one extreme to another, but all the time through he felt cold and still, dead at his core. He had taken a life with his own hands for the first time ever, and that was one hell of an obstacle to get over. Time flew by just as fast as they did, racing north through the lands of the Fire country fast as they could handle. The border to the Sound came and went, and the traces of their prey became more and more fresh. Even as the enemy got closer it was obvious they were rushing themselves. Their tracks were getting further and further apart and more and more obvious. A frenzied energy was going into their making, and that energy flowed up into the feet and legs and bodies of the five shinobi following them, charging them with the gravity of their mission.

Yume and Neji felt it the most. They felt something else in that residual power. They felt their brother. They were closer to him than anyone else in the world. Closer than their parents or Kazeko or anyone else, and they could feel his presence in that path. He was alive. They were sure of it, both of them, even if neither of them dared to say it.

The closer they got to the enemy and the Hidden Sound, the colder and more withdrawn Sakumo became. He was never the most warm of people at normal times, but this was even worse. His movements became erratic, uncontrolled, which was totally unlike him. He moved forward, forward from the rest of the group. He didn't quite break off from them, but he was losing himself. There was a fierceness bursting from him, but he turned it inwards, not letting that animal out.

The beast erupted finally two whole days after the journey had begun. Finally they'd caught up with the remnants of the Sound's army, and Sakumo didn't even wait for that relieved breath from Yume. Neji had exalted already, as soon as his demon-powered eyes had told him, but Yume had needed to wait for her own Byakugan to confirm before she could really be truly sure. But he was alive. Iruka was alive.

Sakumo moved faster than he ever had before. He had a short sword in his hand, which meant he needed to get in close to take care of business. He kicked one Sound-nin high on his chest, pushing him up into the air, and let him fall onto the edge of his sword, cutting right along his chest and up to his neck. Sakumo took a hit from another ninja as a result, but his reflexes were more than fast enough to block it with the heavy metal guards he wore on his arms. He looked into the eyes of the man as he plunged the tanto into his heart, and what he saw in those orbs was something that just made him even madder.

There were dozens of shinobi left in the army. Not all of them were exactly in suitable condition to fight, but that wasn't going to stop them from doing their share. Each of them fought for their lives, just like the Leaf-nins did the same. It was a fight of blood and guts and anger, not of philosophies or ideologies.

Yume made five Kage Bunshins almost as an afterthought. They didn't fight together, and in fact most of them didn't fight at all. Yume did her share, but the four clones acted as shields, for her and for the others. They teleported short distances, they dived and jumped to block attacks. She used the Gentle Fist to kill them, but she did it brutally and without precision. But she had the speed and she had the power for it not to matter. Neji, in contrast, was all about the art of it. His movements were fluidly perfect, his body moving in a dance that brought death in swift, sharp and subtle form.

Once again he was treated as if he was the weak link. They surrounded him at all times, but Neji didn't give in. He let them come, and then pushed spinning chakra out of the hundreds of opening points in his body. The group of Sound-nins were flung with obscene force away. Those who hit trees were killed instantly, and the others were less lucky.

Konohamaru handled the most important job. He dashed immediately at the ninjas carrying Iruka with his hands blurring already. They stiffened and prepared for an attack, but it never came. Instead the elite Jounin disappeared from sight altogether. Dust popped up, and Konohamaru tunnelled down under the ground to beneath the feet of his quarry. The earth softened, and their legs sank down into it.

One of the Sound-nins held up Iruka's drugged body and put a kunai to his throat. "Anything happens and I kill him. Don't be any stupider, Leaf scum," he announced very loudly. Yume and Neji snapped out of their concentration at that, though Sakumo continued his streak of brutality uninterrupted.

The light reflected off Iruka's head, making his hair look completely blue, and there was a moment of stillness and silence before Konohamaru made his move. From up underneath the shinobi black and white rods thrust into the air; one of them knocked the Sound-nin on the chin, and he fell back. His legs shook and he couldn't stand. Iruka was safe though, completely surrounded by a cage. Another ninja punched at the bars, chakra pulsing through his fist, but the only things that broke were the bones in his fist. A scream tore through his throat, cut dead when his body broke just as quickly, just as badly.

"Get the murderer out of there!" One ninja yelled. "He is – not - a murderer," Yume growled, blood on her hands and arms, and splattered loosely over the rest of her.

There was a mad look in the eyes of one of the enemy, and a mad frothing grin on his face. He raised his arms high, spread out in different directions, and gathered all the chakra he could, then more, and more. Finally when it was built up to beyond his breaking point, the Sound-nin let it all loose. He channelled that power into a blast of killing sound that spread out in a wave in every direction. The wave passed with a flash of blinding light, and when it cleared Iruka was gone. Inside the cage was the dead body of a Sound-nin instead.

"After them!" Yume shouted, but then a wordless cry came out from the lips of Yuuhi Sakumo. His hair was mat with blood and sweat, and an ugly gash had been torn in his left arm. "Go," he mumbled weakly. "Before it's too late…"

Neji made to move after his brother, but no one else did. Konohamaru jumped up from under the ground, carrying the transformed Monkey King in his arms. He rushed over to his student, swinging the weapon to finish off the surviving nearby Sound ninjas with resounding cracks to their skulls.

His face grew pale when he first looked over Sakumo, but then it relaxed. "We're not going to leave you here to die. What would be the point of saving Iruka if we lost you?

"You must be getting sloppy Sakumo," the Jounin sensei remarked. "How'd it happen?" Yume was bandaging up his arm as quickly as she could. It wasn't all that bad a wound, and it was by far the worst injury any of them had. A few cuts and scrapes were nothing, and them and their bruises would just have to be tolerated.

"It was…" Sakumo began, his voice trailing off. "My father…" He stopped, bringing his right hand up to cover his face, then brushed it through his short grey hair. "See, my father, he… Never mind. Just never mind..."

"What do we do now?" Neji asked, breaking the mood. "Do we go after him - them?"

"What else can we do?" Jo said. "We have to get him back before they get to the village, that's our only hope. We have to go now!"

"No," Yume butted in. "They've got a lead, they're heading fast, and they know the area much better than we do. Not to mention they have an entire village there to back them up… Our best option is… well, not exactly best, but the only thing to really do is stealth. We sneak in and get him back."

"Sneak into an enemy village?!" Jo exclaimed, wide-eyed. "That's – that's crazy! That's just – crazy!"

"I… have to agree," Sakumo made out slowly. "This is impossible."

"Not impossible," Yume said. "Just really improbable."

"That's not much of a difference," Jo butted in with. He paused for a little while, and then sighed. "How exactly are we going to do this thing, then?"

Not all that far away was the village of the Hidden Sound. The village of traitors - led and governed by its most twisted citizen. He was a scientist, if that title could even be applied to someone who took its creed to the furthest extreme. It was a minor village, all things told, with few ninjas in absolute terms, and even fewer of genuine strength. It could not compare with the Stone or the Cloud or any of the other major ninja villages of the world. But, surely enough, it had its own niche.

The Hidden Sound was protected in all directions. There was a high wall – a thick, strong, high wall - that ran around the entire village, and in each of the four cardinal directions was a gate. North, South, East and West; there was a gate into and out of the village, and each of those gates was guarded by an elite shinobi – four of the strongest in the Sound village. They in turn were under the command of one ninja – who was second only to Kabuto in terms of personal and political power. That man, the leader of the Sound Five, was known simply as Haraki. He'd made his way up through the ranks of the village over many years. It was a testament to his will and his strength that he'd avoided the varied pitfalls of most Sound-nins – he hadn't killed him in the Orange Shadow, Uzumaki Naruto's legendary attack on the village; he had never been experimented on by either of the Sound's twisted leaders; and he had never been betrayed by anyone. No one would be crazy enough to try to trick Haraki.

He was blind. He hadn't been born that way, but it was natural all the same. By the time he was ten years old all he could make out were shapes. By eleven he could just about distinguish sharp contrasts between light and dark. By twelve his world was darkness, and by thirteen his world had expanded in ways no one else could even imagine. He had invented and mastered his own techniques to enhance his senses far, far beyond those of a normal person. There was nothing he could not hear, nothing that could escape his powers. He had been a student when his sight had begun to deteriorate, and no one thought he would ever make it, but he'd proved every last one of them wrong.

Haraki served Kabuto with near-absolute faith. He wasn't stupid, so he was always careful, just like he'd been careful with Orochimaru. But he had been treated well by both administrations, so he treated them well in turn. Kabuto had been good to him.

"My lord, I have mixed news. Our army has been decimated. Only six of our men have returned unharmed."

"This is mixed news?" Kabuto asked, a cold smile on his face. The lights were back on in his meeting room, only dimmed ever so slightly to let shadows be cast. He took the news that hundreds of his shinobi had been killed remarkably easily. It was not something he took well – of course not – but he took it easily all the same.

Haraki bowed his head in respect, letting a smile creep across his own face. It wasn't cold in the slightest. "We captured a Leaf-nin."

"Just one? This doesn't strike me as enough to make up for what we've lost."

"Ah, my lord, but this is not just any Leaf-nin. He is famous. I'm sure you've heard of him – they call him the Immortal."

"Naruto-kun's son!" Some genuine mirth entered Kabuto's expression.

"Yes, my lord. Uzumaki Iruka."

"Now that is interesting. Very interesting." Kabuto pushed his glasses back up on his nose, and light glinted off them. "Take him to the sealed chambers, Haraki."

"Already done, my lord. Unfortunately that is not all… More Leaf-nins are in our lands. I assume they're here to rescue the fox's brat. Unfortunately we don't have positive identification of them yet."

"Leaf-nins don't give up. If anyone should know that it's me. They'll try again."

"Yes, my lord."

"Up security."

"We're stretched pretty thin already, my lord, but I will do what I can."

Kabuto put his face in his hands, his intelligent eyes looking down at, and through, the floor. The cell where Uzumaki Iruka was being held was below his feet, down under the earth. A complex seal protected and imprisoned him, designed by the genius Orochimaru himself. When the attack came – and it would come, the grey-haired doctor knew that it would – there would be no way for them to free their comrade. But all the same…

Kabuto pressed a button on the arm of his chair, and immediately an aide of his ducked into the room. "Bring Samaru to me." The man gulped, but nodded and dashed out.

Just moments later, the living shadow that was Samaru crept into the room. There was light, so he was fully visible, but all the same he gave the impression of not being there at all. His red eyes weren't quite so perceptible when framed by the rest of his face, but they were there all the same, under his mop of long grey hair.

"Father, you called for me?"

"Yes Samaru. We're expecting an attack very soon by a small group of Leaf-nins."

"Do you want me to crush them?" Samaru giggled a little. "That could be fun."

"No, no, I have a very special job for you. You are to stand watch over our new prisoner."

"That doesn't sound like much fun, Father…" He pouted.

"Oh, it will be. Trust me on that."

"I do," Samaru smiled widely, almost innocently. "Oh, and Father… I can feel him. He's coming. My brother."

It was the turn of Kabuto to smile. "Now that is interesting."

It was then that they heard the sirens. Alarms flashed and sirens wailed and they knew the Hidden Sound village was under attack. Samaru looked at his father briefly, but then bowed out of the room and headed for his own station by the sealed chamber. Others would fight this battle.

Both of them left, Kabuto heading to direct the defence. His advisors filled him in, shouting and screaming amongst themselves in shock and frenzy.

"The North and South Gates are under attack!!" They yelled. "There are reports of summoned animals!" Kabuto grabbed the arm of the one who'd said that. "What animals?" He asked. "A giant frog is at the North Gate," was the answer. Kabuto stopped momentarily in his tracks. "Does he have a sword? A scar over his eye?!"

"Yes, I think so."

"Shit," Kabuto swore. "Gamabunta. Gamabunta!"

He got angry there, for a second, but it was only a second before he was back under control and under that cool mask. "What about the South Gate?"

"Reports say some sort of monkey or ape. Regular size."

"That has to be Enma… We're in trouble. Put everyone – everyone! Put everyone on defence, sixty forty split between North and South. I'll be going with the South force to handle the monkey."

The Frog Boss, Gamabunta, was not a happy amphibian. Of course he was not happy most times, but he was especially not happy at the moment. He wasn't happy to be called to fight a whole village, and he wasn't happy that someone was standing on his head. But he especially wasn't happy that a member of his family – because the Uzumakis were his family – was a prisoner. He really wasn't happy about that.

"Boss! Spray some oil over them!" Uzumaki Yume shouted, a wild grin on her face. She was making a strong front and enjoying what she did. Nothing was quite as cathartic as causing massive damage to land, buildings and enemy fighters.

Gamabunta drew in a deep breath into his mountainous lungs, and used his similarly massive chakra to create a vast amount of highly flammable oil. With great power and great precision the Boss let it loose. The pressure was so high that it drove ridges into the earth and cut cleanly through the bodies of those in its path. It was then almost as an afterthought that Yume made a short set of hand seals and breathed out a ball of fire to light the oil, which went up in a giant burst of light and heat, incinerating everything touched by the dark liquid.

Not all that far away, to the south, a very different battle was taking place. It was being fought by many Sound-nins and two figures wearing Leaf forehead protectors. One of them was human, and one of them was the legendary king of the monkeys, Enma. Their fighting styles were very different, and yet they worked together in perfect synchronicity. Enma bounded around with supreme strength and supreme dexterity, bouncing from ground to wall to body without stopping once. Konohamaru moved as little as he could, holding his scarf in one hand and a scroll in the other. The scarf was infused with chakra, making it move entirely by the Jounin's decree. When he wanted it to be flexible it was flexible. When he wanted it to be strong it was strong. And when he wanted it to be sharp, it was slicing straight through flesh and bone.

There came a brief time of calm within the storm of combat, a time when someone new entered the fray. He walked to meet Konohamaru with an air of utter calm. There was nothing to be read from his face or his body language, and nor were there any holes in his stance that the Leaf-nin or his summoned comrade could exploit.

"Well well well… if it isn't Konohamaru-kun. I thought it might be you."

"Kabuto," he said, with bile. "I hope you have made your peace, because you should prepare to die."

The wall around the Sound village was almost perfectly circular, and it ran both up in the air and down into the ground. Orochimaru had designed it to be a strong first defence, and it was. The only places it was really possible to break in were the four gates, and they were heavily guarded. Most of the time, anyway, but not when attacks in other directions were leading the ninjas away, and since they were, that left the east and west sides of the village very much open to attack, or in this case infiltration.

Yume and Konohamaru took the frontal approach because they had the most raw power. That wasn't to say that Sakumo or Jo were slouches, because they were anything but – it simply meant that of Team Five, Yume and Konohamaru were capable of doing more damage and doing it faster and doing it louder, and it was loud and flashy that they were looking for more than subtle and sly.

That left Jo, Neji and Sakumo - who was still nursing his wounded arm - to take the quiet path of sneaking in through the East Gate and getting Iruka out. The member of the Sound Five normally assigned to that entrance was gone, along with all but a handful of her men, and they were no match for one of Jo's Genjutsus, performed in an instant. All of them dropped from their feet and fell deep into unconsciousness before the three Leaf-nins even took the step through that gate and inside.

Neji's Byakugan blood limit was already active, but he waited until they entered the walls before calling upon the demon power in his blood. But once they were in, and once it was done he seemed no closer to rescuing Iruka than before, because even with his super-powered eyes he couldn't see his brother anywhere. And that meant that there was only one place in the entire village he could be – the one building that Neji couldn't see into was the one place where Iruka could possibly be hidden.

Jo took the lead. The other two, with their superior sensory capabilities, directed him, but with Sakumo injured it was his job to take point. They didn't have much trouble, not with the reduced forces and considering their skills. They had to duck in and hide in a few alleys to avoid ninjas running to help out in the two major battles, but that was about the extent of their trials.

It was a low building, just one storey, but it stretched down underground with many other floors. The Chuunin, Jounin and Genin slid on into it right through the door, and immediately Jo turned and headed for the stairs. He knew the path, thanks to those memories he'd relived. He knew the way to the prison cells below the administration building of the Sound where Iruka had to be being held.

But they didn't make it there. They reached the bottom of the stairwell and turned to a corner, where they stopped and looked carefully around the corner, making perfectly sure there was no there in the way. Jo held his hand up, telling them with just his body language that he wanted them to stay still and quiet, and then that hand fell down to his side.

And then it was holding a kunai, and it was deep into the stomach of Sakumo, and its twin was deep in the same of Neji. Jo twisted both of the blades and pulled them out again, then cleaned them while the other two teenagers fell. He turned to them, facing their questioning, pleading eyes. His eyes, the ordinary eyes they knew so well, had changed: they were red now, a familiar red that both of them recognized. It would have been with wonder, if not for the blood gushing out of their bodies and the pounding beat of their hearts in their ears.

"I'm sorry," Nanaka Jo said, as he walked straight past them.

**Author's Note: So how was that? Not quite so uneventful as the last chapter, eh? What does this all mean? What's going to happen next? Well, you'll just have to wait and see I'm afraid.**

**The next chapter should be out shortly, but I have to figure out what it's about. I'll be taking a break from the war storyline with it, so it should be a fairly short one, but then this was a very long one indeed.**

**I'm remarkably pleased to say that with this chapter I will almost certainly be hitting 700 reviews, which is truly amazing. I never expected to get this far. I never expected that I'd even finish this very adventurous project, and yet now I can see the end in sight. That really means a lot to me.**

**I hope you'll keep the reviews coming and I hope that you'll think they're deserved. Thanks a lot.**


	40. Chapter 39

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Whirling Spirals Part One**

"I'm supposed to be giving you a test right about now, but… uhh… well, I know you guys, right?"

The three children looked at each other, then back at Naruto. They nodded, nervously.

"I can trust you guys, right?"

They nodded again, after another pause.

"So there's really no need for us to go through the whole "test" business, is there? I mean it wasn't exactly my favourite thing in the world when I had to do it, you know? I got tied up! And Kakashi-sensei poked me in the ass! Hard! I mean – really – hard! So let's just skip the test, okay?

"Just, uhh, don't tell anyone. If someone asks, I gave you an awesome test that really opened your eyes to the difficulties of the ninja life and expanded your horizons, okay?"

They nodded again, not entirely sure what they were agreeing to.

"Good!" Naruto grinned as widely as he could, and confidence flowed through from him and into Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. His brand-new Genin students. He was sixteen years old, and they were twelve.

Silence. Naruto looked at the kids as if waiting for something, and they looked right back at him. They were definitely waiting for something.

After a long while a sudden change rushed through the blonde teen, and an equally sudden realisation came upon him. "Ohh!" He said. "Ohhhh. Hmm…"

Naruto chewed on his upper lip, stroking the bottom of his chin in intense thought. It was then his stomach chose to growl, softly at first and then building to a crescendo of rumbling volume, like a threatened animal.

He grinned at the three Genin, and they grinned back. Konohamaru did so without reservation, but Moegi and Udon still had nervousness in their features. "Okay!" Naruto shouted loudly, pumping his arm into the air. "Time for a run! Follow me!"

Naruto set out, pointing his arm forward to set their route, and Genin Team Three set out for the first time together. "Lesson number one," he said jogging in an ever-moving circle around his students. "Running is good. There's only one thing better for building your stamina and warming up your body than running. Anyone know what that one thing is?"

Their silence told Naruto that no, none of them knew. He'd have to change that. "Well, hold on, because you'll be finding out in just a minute."

Their run only took a few minutes, from the training field into town and through the streets to their destination. The closer they got the wider Naruto's smile grew, and the more deeply he breathed in that wonderful sensation of anticipation. "Mmm…" he murmured blissfully. "Ramen." He spoke that one word as if he was talking to a lover, sensually, lustfully. "Ramen.

"The answer," he said, turning to face the kids and coming to a stop by the Ichiraku, "The answer to my question is that the best thing for building stamina and for warming your body up is…?"

"Ramen?" Udon asked, wiping his face.

"Ramen!" Naruto answered gleefully. "Real stamina food, guys! Now--" He swept his arm towards the seats. "Dig in.

"Every morning," Naruto started after all four of them were sitting down in front of their steaming bowls. "Every morning we're going to go for a long run. Longer than this one, oh definitely. Then we're going to come here and get some ramen. And then, and then," he grinned slyly, "We're going to start the real fun!"

Naruto had finished five bowls by the time his students were done with their first, and he was on to the thirteenth as they were finishing their second. All three of them were feeling a little sick – not from the ramen itself, they all liked that on normal occasions, but because of the whole situation. And what Naruto did next didn't help that shared queasiness one bit. Just minutes after Naruto pulling out his frog-shaped wallet and them pushing their food bowls away, they were soaring through the air on the back of a very different frog.

Naruto had held his hand out to the kids, after their meal. This was a bond of trust between them, he'd explained. They were in his charge and they were his responsibility. He would protect them with every last breath in his body, but only if they would promise him one simple thing.

"Trust me. Listen to me. And obey me.

"I'm not just your teacher, I'm your leader and you are my subordinates. Your lives may – will – depend on that. You have to do what I tell you to. Starting now, you do exactly what I tell you to."

He held out his hand.

"Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, take out a kunai." They reached, fumbling slightly, into the pouches they wore. All three of them drew out the sharp blades and gripped the handles of them tightly.

He held out his hand; he held it loose in a fist; he held it straight ahead.

"Cut me."

They shivered, but apart from that they didn't move.

"I'm not kidding here. You come here right now and you cut this hand, or I send you straight back to the academy."

Feeling the presence of his best friends strongly, Konohamaru was the one to step forward first. His kunai hovered a little above Naruto's outstretched hand. And with a sudden sharp movement that sharp blade he pierced the Jounin's skin.

Blood welled up from that cut, and Naruto let himself smile a little. "Well done. Now quickly, come and do it Moegi."

The girl stepped up to her sensei and pressed her own kunai to his flesh. She didn't slice, instead she pressed down until she broke the skin. A weak grin flushed on her small face when she saw the red liquid run out from under the edge of her weapon. Udon followed after her. The glasses wearing boy held his blade over Naruto's hand, but then shaking his head flipped it up and pressed the tip into it instead. A tiny prick was formed, and a little trail of blood leaked out. Naruto let his grin spread fully across his face with that, and he ruffled the Genin's light hair.

As the last of the trio stood back, Naruto spoke one simple word. "Watch."

Blood trickled out from all three of the cuts, but just for a moment before they healed over. The eyes of the three kids opened wide. They had heard rumours that there was something different about Naruto. They didn't know details. They knew he was exceptional, they knew that well, but they didn't know details.

"I won't let you down."

That was how they found themselves bounding with fantastic leaps away from the town on the back of a giant frog. There were seats on the animal's back for four people, which was just enough for them. Naruto had summoned him with the blood from those three cuts, and he'd done it to show them a little something of the world of a real ninja. Their first impression? Being a ninja was scary. So scary.

Naruto talked constantly on the ride. The three children didn't really hear too much of it, but he carried on talking all the same. The gist of his conversation, they surmised, was a lecture on the importance of guts. Apparently Naruto was a big fan of boundless spirit over anything else. Neither Udon nor Moegi really thought much of this, though Konohamaru was straining eagerly to hear every last word, his eyes shining and his stomach churning. They were all (except for Naruto, that is) feeling quite unwell, what with the shovelling down of hot food and then the sudden lurching leaps across whole streets.

They were back at the same training field they'd started in when the frog stopped moving. Udon readied himself, guessing what was ahead, and so he was the only one of the three Genin not to be caught with a sore behind when the summoned frog vanished away. Naruto had jumped off with a spectacular quadruple somersault, a feat of aerial acrobatics that was concluded with a midair twist so he landing facing his fallen students.

"What now, Naruto-sensei?" Udon asked in his nasal voice as the other two picked themselves up.

"Glad you asked, Udon… now, now it's time for a little preparation. I plan on teaching you guys as much as I can, but before we can move onto the really cool stuff you've got to get past… this!"

Naruto gestured dramatically to one side at… nothing. When he didn't hear any response from the three kids, Naruto glanced on his own. "Nuts, I knew I'd forgotten something."

He reached into a pouch and rummaged around a little, looking for the right scroll to pull out. Each of the scrolls was marked with specific notches and bumps that acted as identifiers. After a couple of seconds he found the one he was looking for, and with a triumphant grin of happiness Naruto held it upright and flicked his wrist, letting it unwind down.

"Uzumaki Naruto Obstacle Course Number One… GOOOO!"

The fox teen threw the scroll into the air, and it spun for a moment before expanding. It turned into a large and bizarre structure that filled a good half of the training ground and in places stretched as high as the trees. Out of their sight, but within distance of their ears were moving parts, though of course they weren't sure what exactly was really inside. They'd have to actually scramble in through the opening pipe to start finding that out.

"Wooooooow! Where'd you get that, Naruto-sensei?" Konohamaru asked with stars in his eyes. Naruto chuckled a little. "Heheh… Get it? Get it" He held an arm up, fist pointing skyward, and then pumped it up down passionately. "I made it!"

The scarf-wearing Genin was even more impressed than before, and his eyes grew even wider as well. "You made it?! Wow!!! Naruto-sensei, you're the best!"

"Yes, yes I am. Well spotted. For I am Uzumaki Naruto, number one ninja and future Hokage! And you are my students, which means you're going to be the best damn Genins that ever were, you hear! And that means you're going to complete this course in no time flat!

"Now get going! Remember, you're not individuals, you're a team. And teams work together."

They took their first, tentative, steps towards it, while Naruto watched. Three heads poked out of the entrance, and after their legs had disappeared Naruto chose to run up the side and then, from the top, jump down to meet them. A high wooden wall ran along the edge with a path for observers that Naruto walked calmly along, waiting with patience for his team to reach the first challenge.

Naruto smiled as they hopped over the tiny platforms that met them. Konohamaru slipped a little, and the tip of his long scarf dipped down into the liquid brown mud, just for a second. From behind him, Moegi cringed and looked down into the revolting gunk below her feet.

Negotiating past the pit meant making some very long and very precise jumps to land on safe ground, and also perfect balance. And once it was done, the trio expected a brief respite to let them catch their breath and bearings. But the special course designed by Naruto himself wasn't so forgiving, a fact they learned when the steel ball came swinging down right at them. They jumped, already at guard, and it didn't hit any of them. Udon avoided it nicely, moving just right. Unfortunately for him, since he had been taking up the lead, the easiest direction for him to jump had been backwards, which meant that his feet didn't touch safe ground at all. Instead he landed on the surface of the mud, where he sank. His footing faltered, and he stumbled, but an outstretched hand caught him, and with a grunt Konohamaru pulled his friend up and out, free.

Naruto smiled at this from the safe point where he watched, and then clapped his hands together. The sound caught the attention of all three Genin, and they looked up at their teacher. "Come on, keep going," he shouted to them, and they did exactly that.

Team Three made their path through the course. They did it slowly, but they did it all the same. They dodged swinging logs, they ducked under cracks and through holes, they scrambled up walls, they avoided traps and did everything they had to do to keep going.

That was, until they reached the last obstacle. It didn't look like much, not after what they'd already been through. All three of them were tired, bruised and bleeding, though not seriously. They'd had to dodge barrages of needles and hit tiny targets precisely with shuriken just to get this far, though, so they sure as hell weren't about to give up.

The end was in sight, and all they had to do was get through that one final test. A chasm. They could see its bottom, opening out on the ground, but they couldn't see the sky. Hard, thick walls and ceiling covered everything. Light came dimly from behind and strongly from the exit, so far away. There was no way they could make it, not in one jump.

Udon thought for a moment, and then started looking through his pack. With a cry of "Aha!" he brought out a long rope. Moegi and Konohamaru looked at him in puzzlement, but their eyes lit up when he tied the end of the rope to a kunai. "Pass it here," Konohamaru asked, gesturing, and the other boy obliged.

Naruto stepped forward out of the shadows just as the dark-haired boy threw the weapon as hard as he could. They waited just a moment for the sound they wanted to hear, but instead their ears were filled with a hushed clattering. "Sorry," Naruto said to them. "Nice idea, but it won't work. Not yet anyway. I can teach you how to do it right, don't worry, but for now… you'll have to find another way across.

"It really was a good idea, though," the Jounin admitted.

"Tell you what, because I'm so impressed, I'll show you the best way to do it."

Naruto walked to the edge of the abyss and promptly turned dead to his right and walked right to the wall, and just kept on going. He walked slowly all the way along the long cylinder, and once he'd reached the end simply stepped off.

"Now it's your turn," he shouted back to the other three.

The Genin looked back at each other in a mixture of confusion, amazement and fear. "Umm," Moegi said, raising her voice. "Naruto-sensei… how do we do it?"

"Can't you figure it out?"

They exchanged glances again. This was becoming something of a habit for them. "No," was the combined response.

The sixteen year old sighed heavily. "Fine then. Concentrate chakra to your feet. You have to gather just the right amount or it won't work properly. Not enough and you'll fall, too much and you'll bounce right off again. Got it?"

"No?"

"Tough. I can't help you any more than that. It's something that everyone has to figure out the trick on their own for. Just remember to concentrate on what you want to adhere to. Be in tune with it."

With that, Naruto sat down, his back leaning against the far wall, right by the exit of the course.

The trio of Genins put everything they had into the job at hand, and it wasn't easy. They quickly found that the sole of the foot was much harder to enhance with chakra than anything else they'd ever tried. It only took short minutes for them to take a few steps up the wall, but maintaining that grip seemed beyond them all. After twenty minutes all three of them were panting on the floor in weariness and in abject, bleak desperation. A look to the side, towards Naruto, got them up on their feet again, though. The two boys moved to resume, but Moegi held them back. "If we're going to do this," she said, "then we'll have to work together. I can't do it, but maybe if we pool our knowledge…"

They put their heads together in a little huddle, just like they'd done all those times they'd wanted to plan pranks or play ninja. Naruto looked on in bemusement, and felt a sense of anticipation. They were doing everything right.

Of them, Konohamaru was the first to grasp it properly. He walked, unsteady, up the wall in front of him, but even though he wobbled and teetered, he didn't fall. He made it all the way up the ceiling and back down to the floor on the other side of the little arc, making one full revolution. And then grinning, he jumped in the air for joy. He made his first real attempt, and didn't once fall before reaching his goal. The other two whooped, and Naruto clapped from his seat as well, the smile on his face as wide as it could get.

Udon and Moegi made their progress more slowly. They weren't as gifted as their friend, and they certainly didn't have bloodlines as prodigious. He was the grandson of the Third and greatest Hokage (although Naruto swore he was going to surpass old Sarutobi any day now), after all. The old man had been known as the Professor because of his genius, and the apple his grandson hadn't fallen all that far from the free. It helped that he'd been training hard for most of his life, of course, but he was gifted none the less.

That gift showed quite clearly when he picked up the rope he'd thrown earlier. "Hey guys!" he shouted. "Tie the other end off on your end and I'll do it here." He turned to Naruto. "Hey, you said to remember we were a team, right?" Naruto grinned back. "That I did."

Once all four of them were at the end, together they walked out of the course and jumped down to the ground. Naruto groaned, then took out a blank scroll and brush from one of his pouches. "I hate this part," he muttered under his breath as he got around to drawing a series of remarkably complex seals. "Obstacle Course Seal, Level One," he said loudly after finishing, and slammed his palm down into the middle of the open page. With that, and a whirling rush of wind and light, the huge course was gone. Naruto lifted up his hand, and from under it the Genin trio could see a new symbol had appeared.

The blonde Jounin pocketed the scroll, and looked over his three students. "Wow," he said to them. "You guys look terrible. What happened?"

"It was all your stupid traps, you idiot!" Moegi raged at him.

"Hahaha," Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, next time you should try and get through faster, I guess."

"Next time?" they whined questioningly.

Naruto brushed off their accusing stares. "Well, that's probably enough for the first day. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning and you'll have your first mission. I'll make sure the old granny gives us something fun, count on it. Bye!"

Naruto walked off with that, only moments later to be followed by the others scampering up to catch him. "Oh, you guys are going this way too?" Together they all headed back into town. Moegi and Udon split off individually to head home for some proper rest, so when Hinata came running up to Naruto he was only accompanied by Konohamaru.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata breathed loudly and excitedly, and she was met with a hearty "Hinata-chan!" as her reward. "Naruto-kun," the white-eyed girl began. "Could you come with me?" She smiled at him.

"Sure, Hinata-chan. I'd love to go—" He was distracted by a tugging on his jacket sleeve and looked down.

"Ooh, she's your girlfriend eh?" Konohamaru said, with a smirking little laugh. "Much better than—ow!" Naruto smacked him in the back of the head, harder than necessary. The Jounin bent down level with his student, who was rubbing his aching new bump. "This is Hinata. You're going to be nice to her, understand?" Naruto whispered to him. "So she is your girlfriend! Nice one bro!" Konohamaru whispered back. "I'll be smooth, don't you worry one bit." He winked. "You need any help?"

"No," Naruto said, quietly but very firmly. "I don't need any help. And, I said: Be. Nice."

"Because she's your girlfriend?"

"No. Because she could kill you in under three seconds." The boy looked back at whom he'd just thought was a pretty girl a few moments before. "With her eyes closed." He gulped. Naruto straightened his back, but then, shaking his head imperceptibly, he bent right down again. "And because she's my girlfriend," he whispered with a sense of finality.

Hinata, who was after all only standing a few short feet away and also did in fact have the requisite ninja skills to kill Konohamaru, had heard the entire exchange quite well, and was blushing quite badly.

Naruto took her hand and walked with her away, waving backwards at his student with one hand high.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, uhh," Hinata stammered, "How's the team coming along?"

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed. "They're great! But I knew that ages ago. They'll all go far, I'd bet on it."

"So they passed the test easily?"

"Test? Wha—Oh, yeah, yeah, with flying colours. Flying colours."

They wandered a little further. Hinata enjoyed the feeling of Naruto's strong, large hand surrounding hers. Naruto liked the smell of Hinata, personally – he had a heightened sense of smell thanks to the demonic squatter in his belly, and so it was hard for him to find people who didn't offend it in some way. The pleasant scent around her was one of the things that had first attracted him to Hinata. He liked her shyness as well, and her sense of tranquillity. But sometimes being shy could get in the way of things that needed to be done – or said.

"Hinata-chan," the name sighed out of Naruto's lips. "What did you really want to talk about? Is there a problem with something?"

The Chuunin looked down at her feet. "It's nothing."

Naruto tucked his hand under her chin, bringing her head back up to face his. They'd stopped, right in the middle of the street. There was a time when Naruto would have been scared to do that; scared that he would be attacked. Now he could stand wherever he wanted without fear, because he wasn't hated anymore. "Hinata-chan," he repeated. "Come on, I want to know."

"Okay…" she said softly. "Tell me about what happened. On the mission. What happened, Naruto-kun?" she pleaded.

Instantly everything about the blonde changed. Even though his lips didn't move, the loving smile that had been plastered across his face became dark. His blue eyes, normally warm, burned suddenly with an angry fire, and then dimmed, dulled to a dead stare.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Please, Naruto-kun."

His hands shook, and he raised the one free one to his eyes, looking it over and over. And he spoke, quietly and slowly, filled with pain.

"We fought. I won, but…"

Hinata squeezed his trembling hand. Soothing thoughts went through from her into Naruto's body, and he unzipped his orange jacket. As it opened, it almost looked as if the orange was being mixed together from the white of the tightly wrapped bandages and the dark red of the blood visible even from beneath.

Hinata gasped. Naruto had lead them away from anyone else, standing against the side of a building by a small field, and he'd done it deliberately so that no one else would have to see. The pale Chuunin's right hand gripped onto Naruto's left tightly, and her left was brought up, almost touching his chest but not brave or foolish enough to finish the movement.

"Oh, Naruto-kun."

A flash of realisation rushed from Hinata's brain into her eyes, stopping just at her throat. She didn't say it. She didn't have to; the question left unspoken on her face was more than enough.

What was there in the world that could hurt Naruto, a man with the power to heal from being stabbed right through the chest or from having every bone in his body broken in just moments, that badly? Hurt him so much that even after a week he was still wrapped in dressings almost from head to toe?

Hinata didn't know. She didn't want to know. She could feel the tears just barely being held back inside her, but she would not cry. She refused to cry.

"It looks worse than it really is," Naruto said, turning his back to his girlfriend and breaking her hold on his hand. "Really."

She couldn't see his face.

"He hurt Sakura-chan. I dragged him as far as I could, all the way back to her. And she tried to heal both of us… but she worked on him first, because he was in more danger than me.

"And then he hurt her. He went crazy. His neck burned like purple fire, and he lashed out at Sakura-chan… I couldn't stop him. I was too weak. Too weak! I'm still too damn weak!!"

Roaring terribly, Naruto swung his fist hard at the wall, flame-red chakra erupting from his body. At the very last second he ripped back his self-control, stopping that fist before it did any damage.

"God, I SUCK!" Naruto shouted. He stamped his foot down on the ground, and the force sent him flying up into the air. He landed on the edge of the roof, balancing on some old tiles. Hinata sailed gracefully from the ground to the top of the building to stand beside him again. "I don't think you suck. You know I don't."

He stared at her, almost disbelieving, but then cocked his head and smiled a weak smile back at the girl. "Yeah, I know."

"Naruto-kun, I think…" Her voice stopped, unwilling to say the rest.

"Go on."

"I think… I think that so many people told you so many times that you were worthless that part of you – a small part – actually believes it. Most of the time you ignore that small part, but when something goes wrong it sneaks up from the back of your head and starts talking."

He didn't say a word, but just nodded. His head went down, and as he raised it again Naruto looked straight into Hinata's eyes.

"I should… We should go visit her."

"Okay." Hinata took his hand again. She led her boyfriend on their way gently. She had well seen just how bad that injury was, and how little trouble it would take for it to reopen.

At the entrance the couple walked straight on in without checking with the reception desk. They knew exactly where they were going, and after all no one was going to argue with Naruto on simple issues like that.

Naruto pushed open the door to Sakura's room and greeted her with a faux cheery wave. The two former teammates could both tell exactly how the other felt, just with one look.

Haruno Sakura was in terrible condition, but only out of her sheer boredom. All of her injuries, from the countless simple cuts and scrapes to the serious and threatening wounds that had been inflicted on her. Her right arm and both her legs had been crushed, and so many of her other bones had been broken as well. But then help had arrived, brought by Hatake Kakashi to save both of the shinobi.

Her own master -the Godaime Hokage Tsunade – had been the one to treat her and so Sakura had made a complete and perfect recovery, of course. Tsunade did not often fail. But all the same, she'd been ordered to her bed for a few weeks to recover fully. It wasn't something that she enjoyed. The only thing that managed to pass the time was reading medical textbooks, which had lead to the Jounin scribbling all over a few of them with an accompaniment of ever louder cries of "No! That's so stupid!" and "Arrgh! This works so much better!" The piles of improved books had grown quite high all around Sakura's bed, and so Hinata and Naruto had to carefully navigate their way in to see her properly.

Naruto hopped down to sit on the edge of the bed by Sakura's feet. "You okay?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "Sure," was the reply. "As well as… could be expected."

"Did they tell you?" Naruto asked, lifting his eyebrows slightly in indication.

"About what?" Sakura asked, obviously puzzled. "I guess not," Naruto said. "Well, we've had some reports. He's moving in the wrong direction. He's not going back, it seems."

Sakura laughed bitterly. "Oh, so we half accomplished the mission, is that right? Great. I feel so much better now."

There was a silence, there in the little hospital room. It was a long silence, filled with powerful and dangerous emotions. It misted up around them like a miasma of nothingness. It was Hinata, the girl who'd been so shy and quiet not long ago, who finally broke that silence.

"Sakura-san… Naruto-kun started his job as a Jounin sensei this morning, did you know?"

"I didn't!" Sakura said with a wicked little smile, punching Naruto's arm. He was thankful she hadn't used any of her monstrous strength, because he'd been on the receiving end of that before and it wasn't an experience he ever wanted to repeat. In that relieved state of mind, he started talking about his students. He was incredibly animated, waving his arms about and gesturing madly. His excitement was practically palpable.

At one point in his retelling, Naruto even jumped into the air and, after almost hitting his head on the ceiling, landed back on the bed, making it bounce up and down.

When he was done, a true and good mood suffused all three of them. Hinata smiled and stroked her boyfriend's arm lovingly. "You really like being a teacher, don't you? From the sound of it, you really like those three kids as well."

"Yep yep, I do. They're going to be great ninjas."

He gave her a thumbs up.

"And that's a promise."

**Author's Note: Gah, another long wait. Sorry about that. This chapter was really hard to get out, so I don't know if you'll really enjoy it. I hope you do, of course. I had some annoying troubles recently and they killed my desire to write for a little while.**

**The next chapter will be getting back to the ongoing war storyline, and just like "The Traitor", "The Prodigal" will resolve some of the plot lines that have been running from the beginning. You'll notice a "Part One" at the top of this chapter as well, so this particular little story will have a sequel as well.**

**All I can say other than that is… review! Please review. If only to cheer this poor depressed boy up, heh.**

**Thanks.**


	41. Chapter 40

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Forty: The Prodigal**

They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes. Yuuhi Sakumo didn't know if that was true or not, but he did know one thing, as he lay there on the cold stone floor with blood pouring out of him. He knew that what he was seeing wasn't anything he'd ever seen before. It wasn't his life that flashed before those red eyes of his. It wasn't his life.

He crawled; dragging himself as well as he could towards the other figure left bleeding there in the basement of that building in the Hidden Sound. They had been betrayed, stabbed, left for dead down right before they could reach their goal – the rescue of Uzumaki Iruka.

"Neji," he gasped out. "You… need to… heal yourself."

The thirteen year old moaned but didn't stir, so fighting through his drowsiness Sakumo tried again. It was an effort, but he pushed himself up and shook the younger boy slightly, even though he was shaing himself; in response Neji trembled, breath catching and breaking in his mouth. It almost seemed a miracle when his moans subsided and that cruel breathing slowed.

That knowledge came to Sakumo like a cutting relief, sapping all but the last of his strength, and he collapsed down. It was then that he heard it.

"Who are you?"

He pulled his head up towards the sound of the voice, but with every movement the world spun more and more. There were three of them? No, just one. Everything was going black; he couldn't make out any features.

He couldn't speak clearly, not with the light fading in and out like that; not with his mouth filling with the coppery taste of blood. Only a few words made it out of his throat.

"The hill… house… she saved… I hate… frog… need to protect… enemies…"

"Don't worry," the voice whispered. "I'm not your enemy." Sakumo felt a gentle tug on his shoulder, and finally he slipped out of consciousness altogether. It was a testament to his strong will that he'd lasted that long.

The memories didn't stop coming. Now they were a dream, a dream made of stories and secrets and long-lost desires, but still nothing he'd ever seen for himself.

The dream took him from a hill to a house to a forest. His imagination and his subconscious worked, piecing together the story of Sakumo's life; the story of how his life had begun, long before he was born. It was an exciting story, full of battle and death and miracles, but it was a story that the Leaf Jounin hated every second of with every fibre of his being.

Elsewhere, two men faced each other. It wasn't far in distance from where Sakumo and Neji lay bleeding, but it was far in blood and danger, with many men and women between them.

One man faced into the village from the South Gate. Blocking his path was another. One of them was a Jounin of the Leaf, leader of the little team that had come to rescue one of their own. The other was also a leader, but of the Hidden Sound village itself. One was named Konohamaru, and the other Kabuto. Both were adults, true Jounin and seasoned warriors. But they were not equals.

"You know you don't have any chance against me, right?" Konohamaru's voice was almost mocking in its incredulity. "I'm stronger than you."

Kabuto tipped his head down and smiled over his glasses. "Maybe so."

"So I suppose this is where you try and goad me into making a mistake? Knowing that I would have no trouble killing you in an ordinary battle, you'll attempt to use your intelligence to even the odds? I suppose something along the lines of how your old master killed by grandfather?"

"I didn't get to see the old man die. That's always been a regret of mine." Kabuto pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"It won't work. I know what really happened. My grandfather did his duty as Hokage and sacrificed himself for the village. And besides," now it was Konohamaru who smiled, "Naruto-sensei took care of the snake, years and years ago."

Kabuto laughed at that, a shallow and small laugh at a personal joke. "That he did. That he did. And I'll never stop thanking him for that, in many ways." He laughed again, after he'd gotten those words out.

"Enough! Enma – handle the guppies. I'll take out this one."

The Monkey King nodded. "I was there when old Sarutobi died. He was a brother to me."

"I know."

The leader of the Sound sneered, and held up a hand. "You might want to rethink that. Either of you takes a step and…" He brought out a small device from his pocket and showed it to both of them. "This is a trigger to a very interesting little bomb. Guess where it is?"

Neither the man nor the monkey spoke, though they both knew exactly what the answer Kabuto was looking for was. There could only be one place for it.

"That's right! Little Iruka-kun's neck! If I press this button then… boom! The boy's regenerative abilities are truly awe-inspiring, I'll admit that much readily, but no one survives their head exploding. Not even an Uzumaki." The way he said the name, it was as if he knew that for a fact. As if he had tested that theory personally.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't. But I don't think you can take that risk."

Konohamaru considered his options as he matched stares with the medic-nin. There weren't many, and they weren't good.

He didn't move.

Down underground Uzumaki Iruka slept through a drugged haze. His weapons had been taken away, and all he was left with were his torn and ragged, burnt and soiled clothes. Except, that is, for the device that hung around his neck on a collar. The bomb and the sedatives weren't the only things keeping him imprisoned, not by any means. The cell had thick, iron bars, reinforced many times over, and even if that wasn't enough they were carved with the most powerful seals any Sound-nin could manage.

And then there was one more element of the protection, a human guardian to go with all the rest. He was in his mid teens, cloaked in richest cloth, and despite his youth his hair was pure grey. His name was Samaru, and long ago he had been born just a few rooms away from the prison. He had been one of twins, the older brother, but just short hours past their birth the two brothers had been separated. One had been taken to the village of the Hidden Leaf to become a spy, and one had remained in the Sound. The two had never once met.

Samaru waited for something to happen. He'd been waiting for a long time, or at least what had seemed like a long time. He wasn't used to being told to do something. It was strange to him, but Samaru had listened to Kabuto and done what had been asked of him all the same

He heard the footsteps coming long before anyone turned round the corner and into his sight. He didn't feel worried by the sound at all, and why should he? Anyone who meant him harm and was actually capable of inflicting it wouldn't be making that much noise – or any at all. No, if he were in any real danger at all it wouldn't be announced so candidly. Samaru wasn't worried. In fact he felt something inside him growing stronger and stronger, and with every step he heard he felt more and more at ease.

Samaru saw the robes first and their owner second. His heart seemed to freeze for a moment, and everything else with it. "It's…" The words went unfinished. The look in his – their – eyes was enough. Their matching eyes. "Jo," the teen said with a smile all across his face. It was incredibly honest, enormously genuine. "I can't believe it!"

Samaru and his brother had been separated at birth. The younger baby had been given to their mother and taken far away. That child had grown up always knowing he was different, always longing for true acknowledgement. He had wanted to have a family. And now Jo was home at last.

"Samaru? That's… really you, isn't it? Is it?" The other boy didn't nod, but stretched his hands out in front of him. "Jo… brother - my brother," he sighed, "You have to come with me!" The grey-haired Samaru pulled on the large sleeve of the other boy and starting running without letting go. Jo was forced to follow, awkwardly and unsure, as his brother took them through the winding corridors of the peculiar complex.

They stopped at a room somewhere underground. There were no locks or seals on the door, just a simple wooden frame holding it up in place. Samaru pushed it open and with one final tug pulled Jo inside.

The older twin beamed as he swung his arm around. "Home sweet home," he said. "What do you think?"

Jo looked the room over. He saw a wide, open space, with hardly any furnishings - apart from the humble bed in one corner. He also saw the bloodstains seeped into the floor. Jo knelt down, putting one hand to the red marks. "Sorry," Samaru said off-hand, "Sometimes I play a little too hard."

Jo didn't say anything; he just smiled.

"Father has told me about you, dear brother. Every last report sent by Mother he let me read - once they were decoded of course. But I never needed them. I've always been able to feel you, just off in the distance."

"I never had any reports to read," Jo said grimly, "But I agree completely. This isn't our first meeting, not at all."

Samaru put his hands on Jo's arms and rubbed them, and then pulled his twin closer, closer, into a tight hug. Jo put his arms around Samaru as well, and after a moment relaxed. Samaru did nothing of the sort. He refused to let go.

"Why do you dye your hair?" Jo asked quizzically. "Ah," his brother responded. "To look more like Father, of course. I'm not so lucky as to have his natural colour. Maybe when I'm a little older." He sighed wistfully.

"I want to know everything, brother. We've been apart for so long. Everything."

"Okay…" Jo replied. "Where should I begin?"

Meanwhile, not that far away at all, Sakumo dreamt. He had fallen down into the black depths of unconsciousness almost like he was drowning, sinking under the surface of an ocean.

His dream started on top of a wide hill. In the far distance you would have been able to see the Hidden Leaf village, if it were reality, but then it had been long years since Sakumo had been there. All he really knew was the story, and the story started with the hill.

There had been a battle. Heavy fighting. The scene was formed from Sakumo's own memories of such things. But the only truly important thing was the woman.

Obviously Sakumo only knew his mother as she had been in his own life, but he'd seen plenty of photographs of her from when she'd been younger. And he knew the way she smiled; the way she moved almost as well as he knew himself, his friends, his love.

There were tears on her face, or so his mind imagined. She had made it just in time, but what her red eyes saw was no pretty sight. Anyone would have thought that there was no chance, but not Yuuhi Kurenai. She refused to give up. Not for the sake of a friend.

She was no medic-nin herself, but every Jounin was required to have some degree of first aid skill. She knew the basics, and she knew what she had to do to get him out of immediate danger. To give her enough time to find a real healer. She knew exactly where to go.

Sakumo had never been to the next place the dream took him, but his subconscious knew enough what to guess. A small house, but well built. It didn't look like much from the outside, not at all, but its true cost quite probably would have been several fortunes. But its owners could afford that, oh yes.

The door opened before his mother was even close, and the person who answered it he did know very well indeed. He saw her face every day, even if the real thing was much smaller than the stone monument that watched over the village of Konoha. The legendary Tsunade, the Slug Princess and medic extraordinaire.

Words, then. The first of the dream. The first that Sakumo could hear.

"He'll never be the same as before."

"I know."

"It might have been better if you had never come here."

"That's never true."

"He'll never be a ninja again. It's completely impossible."

"No life is ever a wasted. You know that!"

"I don't think you understand what I mean."

He heard all these words, in the voices he recognized from true experience, but he didn't see the two women as they spoke them. The words came up from nowhere and nothing, springing from the void of the dark unconscious.

"He'll never be a ninja again. He'll be a cripple, living out as many years as he can bear in boredom and darkness. He won't be able to read, to watch television. And he definitely won't be able to defend himself. Do you understand me? Do you understand how many enemies he's made in his life? How they will laugh? How they will relish this as a chance to settle their old and their bitter and their bloody, bloody scores?

"He will be a living target. A joke. And his days will be numbered, believe me when I say this. Do you really think he will be able to have a life?

"I'm a doctor. You cannot imagine how hard it is for me to say this, but I've seen thousands die, and hundreds of those on my operating table when I just wasn't good or fast enough, or worse when I was just plain stupid."

This was a story he'd been told his whole life. A secret story. The story of his life.

"It would be best for him if he never woke up - because he's not going to have much of a life if he does."

"So… so… so he'll die. We'll tell everyone that he's dead. No one's going to doubt you of all people.

"As far as the world has to be concerned, Hatake Kakashi died in that fight."

A jump. With no warning, everything in the dream changed. Night turned instantly to day; a room emptied. Emptied except for the patient, that is, who was still lying on his bed. His breath was quiet but slow, constant. His wounds were closed, though the damage was so very evident. Just one glance would prove that to anyone.

The perfect silence was broken most rudely when the door swung open. "Kakashi-kun! Time to wake up!" The man speaking waited a moment, and then nodded his head in a show of uncharacteristic melancholy. "You really need to wake up, you know?" He sat on a wooden chair by Kakashi's side and put his feet up. He reached somewhere hidden inside his clothes and brought out a notepad and pencil. After tapping the pencil against his chin for a few seconds, inspiration struck and he began to scribble down quick notes.

Absentmindedly, Jiraiya leant over to the resting Kakashi and spoke in a conspiratorial tone, "You'd better get up and better soon, Kakashi, or you'll miss out on the new book. I think you'd love it…"

The big man looked back at his pad and circled a sentence. "Here, I tell you what – just for you, a sneak preview!" Jiraiya put his mouth to the patient's ear and started whispering. A pleased blush warmed his cheeks as he did it, and when he pulled back the Toad Sennin giggled a little in a high voice, a giggle that turned into a gasp as the comatose Jounin moaned at the last, shaking and moving again.

Sakumo didn't know if that had really been what brought him back. That was the way they'd always told the story, so that was the way the dream went. Kakashi always had loved the Itcha Itcha series; he knew that much at the least.

Another skip in the scenery, one instant jolt from place to place. It seemed perfectly normal, in the context of the dream. And because it seemed normal, it was, as far as Sakumo was concerned. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Especially not where his mind's eye was next taken.

It was another deceptively well built home. It wouldn't have looked like much to anyone, though, because it wasn't built for any of it to be seen. It was for a blind man, but one whose other senses were sharpened. It had taken a lot of money, just like Tsunade and Jiraiya's home, but money wasn't something the son of the Hatake family had ever wanted for. His father had been rich and powerful, and Kakashi had plenty of savings of his own from a life's servitude to the Leaf village.

There weren't sharp edges to anything in that tiny house in the forest. Nothing that he could accidentally walk into and cut himself, or fall against or hurt himself in any abnormal way. There were markings along the walls and handrails – his body was stiff, slow and his movements sluggish. They had been then, and they were now, Sakumo knew that well. Kakashi didn't have anywhere near his original coordination, which was why he needed all the help he could in getting around.

His mind was almost the only thing still whole and well about him. His mind was free where his form was not. The forest hut was a prison, a coffin for a dead man. His mind could soar free, though, as best it could in such constrains. He had new ways of spending his time, such as they were.

A knock at the door. Kakashi walked there, holding one hand up to steady himself. He wasn't yet used to the layout of his home. He reached the door, and waited. "It's me," the voice came. Kurenai's voice. He opened the door, just a crack, and breathed in her scent. It was her alright, so he undid the latch and let her in. The Leaf Jounin quickly closed the door behind her and embraced Kakashi.

It was a warm embrace. Tender, too.

"How are you doing?" she asked. His hand came up to her face, tracing its every surface. He felt the smile growing on her lips, the kind and gentle crease he loved.

He led her through the hall and into his living room. She knew the way, of course, but it was important to Kakashi that his house be his and not anyone else's. Sakumo knew exactly the way he felt about that, and it was reflected in the dream.

"Why don't we tell them?" Kurenai's voice asked. Maybe it was a question she'd asked then, maybe it really wasn't. All Sakumo's subconscious knew was that it was the question he had been asking all his life.

And the answer had always been the same. "I don't want them to see me like… like this." His broken hands gestured at the ruins of his body. "That's no reason at all," Sakumo argued in his mother's voice. "You know they'd accept you." It was no use.

Kurenai held his hand tight. "If that's what you want." It was her talking, not Sakumo.

"I have everything I want here. I do." He stroked her shoulder lovingly, and with his other hand he pointed, bringing her attention to his little workstation. She laughed. That was a joke between the two of them that Sakumo had always been sick of, for as long as he could remember.

Time moved forward again, days passing in seconds, and with the passage came one large difference. Not in Kakashi, but in Kurenai. She was pregnant.

"What do you want to call her?" The white haired man asked, smiling under his mask. "What makes you think it's a girl?"

"Nothing. I think a girl would be nice. Maybe she wouldn't have to grow up like us, in the middle of death and ruin."

"Don't kid yourself Kakashi. You wouldn't have given it up for… for anything less." She brushed her lips against his face from behind. "Whether he have a son or a daughter, I'm sure you won't be happy with anything less than a first-rate ninja."

"Well, there's truth in that."

"How about, if we have a boy, we name him after your father?"

"Wake up."

Blaring light streamed through Sakumo's brain and wrenched him out from his slumber. It felt like a mantle of pins was piercing deep into his skull and smothering him simultaneously. His first instinct was to groan and cover his face to fight it off. He suppressed it instead. With consciousness came his training, those ingrained actions taking over. He didn't move, didn't change anything. He kept his eyes moving from side to side, kept his breathing as natural as it could be.

"Wake up." The voice, now that Sakumo knew there was in fact one, was more insistent this time. Sakumo still didn't stir, maintaining the façade for precious moments longer. He could hear other things too – the whir of machinery, and the rushing roar of a ventilation system. Where they were, both were particularly loud. An inhaling breath told him more as well. His sense of smell was sharp, sharper hundreds of times over than any human's could be. It was a gift from his father.

His nose told him many things. The air was warm, stale – it had been recycled times over and again. There was dust as well, lots of it. And there was blood, oh yes, plenty of that. Some of it was his, and some of it was not. He knew the scent of its owner, though, and so he knew that Uzumaki Neji was still with him, even though both of them had clearly been moved. There was another scent as well, and that could only belong to the one watching over them. He smelled familiar, and yet not. Human, and yet not.

"Come on, wake up." A nudge to his shoulder, then harder again. "Come on!" It was a young voice, and a young face that greeted Sakumo when he did open his eyes. Bright light streamed from above, from behind the boy, leaving his features shadowed.

"There you are. How are you feeling?" There was kindness in his voice, but there was something else as well. Something Sakumo couldn't place so easily.

"My stomach..?" Sakumo's throat was painfully dry, and sensing that his benefactor leant over and poured some water into his ready mouth. "Don't worry, I fixed you just right! You were really lucky that I came along."

"Who are… you..?" Speaking wasn't so much of an ordeal that time around.

"Me? I… I don't have a name. I'm just me."

"Everyone has a name," Sakumo said innocently. "How is N—How is my friend?"

"I know who you are, you're not exactly making a secret of it. Both of you are wearing forehead protectors. Your friend will be even better than you. I barely had to do anything to fix him."

Sakumo sat up with some effort. "Where are we?"

"We're in the mainframe room. No one ever comes in here, so don't worry."

The boy got up and started moving. Sakumo called out to him, pushing up on his elbows. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Away. Nothing fun here anymore."

"Why did you help us, then?"

The boy cocked his head and made some thinking noises. "Hmmm, hmmmmm… I guess it was because I could." Where he was standing now, Sakumo could just about make out his eyes, shining in the dark. They were like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"Then why don't you carry on helping?"

"I'm bored." It was a simple statement of fact, as if that was the perfect explanation for anything. "I'm going to go look for something more interesting to do." Sakumo had no choice but to watch him go. The boy was gone before he could get up.

Sakumo slumped back down onto his back and looked straight up to the ceiling. He felt all his resolve sapping out of him. What was the point? He'd narrowly avoided death once already, why should he carry on? Out of the corner of his eye he could see Neji, though, and he knew what he had to do.

He didn't feel all that bad, not anymore. In fact he was feeling better with every second. Sakumo sat up, and spotted his backpack. It was time to start fighting back.

At the north end of the village was a very big mess and a very, very big frog. Standing on top of the Frog Boss was the Leaf Jounin, Uzumaki Yume, eldest child of her clan. She didn't know anything about what had been happening inside the village, since it wasn't her job to get in there and find out. It was her job to be the distraction, to cause as much damage and defeat as many of the Sound's ninjas as possible. She didn't know that Jo had betrayed her and hurt Sakumo and Neji. She didn't know that her sensei was matching wills with Kabuto. And she didn't know that she had some new additions to her family, either.

All Yume knew was that she had a job to do, and she was going to do it. She'd been doing it for hours, and she was nearing exhaustion, but since all she was doing was making a lot of noise and attracting as much attention as she could, it wasn't that unbearable an activity. Of course it didn't hurt that it was fun, though if she'd known anything about what her friends and family were up to then she might not have been laughing so hard.

"Boss! Jump into the air!"

Gamabunta complied, grudgingly. If it hadn't been such an emergency then he would have complained. He didn't always think much of the tactics of his summoners, but he would be damned before he let harm come to any of his family, and the Uzumakis were all included in that number.

Yume took the opportunity to catch a long breath while they were in the air. Gamabunta could jump really high, so they were easily beyond the reach of their enemies. The best the Sound-nins could do was hope they scratched the frog's underbelly, considering how their kunais weren't even as big as one of his pupils.

The two of them hit the ground hard – really, really hard. The impact reverberated through the brittle, hard ground, ripping much of it up from its level plane and knocking over the unluckiest of the shinobi. The Jounin took careful aim and, conservatively, threw her kunai one by one at her chosen targets. Her aim was perfect, each of the blades cutting away lives. And because it didn't take much of her strength, she could take the time it earned her to recuperate. And if there was one thing Yume could do it was recuperate.

Then a silence rang out across the battlefield. It spread in a wave from one man who stood beneath the open North Gate. There were two elements to the eerie quiet: one, the hush that came upon the Sound shinobi as they caught sight of Haraki, leader of the Sound Five; and two, a field of chakra emanating from his body, stopping whatever it touched and bringing a deathly blanket of calm to the surrounding chaos.

Quiet was just the way the blind man liked his world. Unlike anyone else there, his ears were his primary sense – without them he might have been helpless. Too much noise was confusing and infuriating to him. Quiet was much better. He could hear a single pin drop miles away, if he only had some quiet to do it in.

Like most of his techniques and abilities, the aura of silence was of Haraki's own invention. It was his favourite for many reasons – chiefly among them the fact that it made him all but invulnerable to anything the Sound-nins could throw at him. Their lovely sound-based attacks just didn't have that same sting when they were so effortlessly nullified.

"I'm very disappointed," Haraki said, "It seems that you're all dead or dying. I can smell an awful lot of blood, and many of you are having trouble breathing." He breathed in himself and then snorted, wrinkling his nose in revulsion. "I might as well kill you myself." He considered that for a moment, and in a flash sent a kunai straight into the heart of one of his men. "That was a mercy, his wounds were fatal. At least this way he went quickly." Haraki said. "Now the rest of you should leave unless you want to get killed as well."

Yume watched this scene with a mixed feeling of horror and amusement. "So you're the big dog around here, huh? Well then," she pointed her finger straight at him, "You've met your match." She moved her hand back, thumb sticking out at her dramatically. "I'm Uzumaki Yume: beautiful kunoichi of the Leaf! Proud descendant of the Nidaime Hokage! Graceful granddaughter of the Yondaime Hokage! And powerful daughter of the Rokudaime Hokage! For justice and the future of this world I refuse to lose!" Yume posed theatrically with the end of each sentence, emphasising her words, and panted slightly when she was done.

"I'm most sorry, but I believe I missed your show," Haraki responded, unfazed. "Perhaps you didn't notice, but I'm blind."

He bowed formally to her. "Your bloodline sounds most impressive. You must be the equivalent of royalty in your home village. I feel honoured to meet you, Yume-san. My name is Haraki."

With his head still bent down, his arms spread widely to either side. Then with an almost invisible flick of his wrists sets of shuriken filled both of Haraki's hands. With another flick they were on their way, spinning through the air, each in their own arc

"Finally," Yume said as she ran down the side of Gamabunta, ducking and dodging the six throwing stars that seemed to home in on her movements. "A little competition! Just what a growing girl needs."

She shouted up, "Hey Boss! You can go now!"

"WHAT?" The massive summoned toad rumbled, "NOPE, I'M NOT GOING!"

"Look, you're too big to fight one little guy, and fun as it would be, you can't exactly go crush the village as long as Iruka is stuck somewhere in there… but you could take a few of these others with you when you go, I guess."

Gamabunta's tongue whipped out and brushed away the remaining Sound-nins casually. Those who avoided the initial sweep ran, but they found themselves wrapped up in the impossibly long muscle and crushed strongly. With that the huge frog disappeared into an equally big puff of smoke, leaving the parting words of "YOU'D BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING…" for her to hear.

Haraki sensed Yume coming straight at him calmly, resting one hand on his waist. When she was halfway, he hooked the thumb of his other hand into a loop inside his bracelet and pulled; a thin wire snaked out and trembled as Haraki jiggled his thumb, making a faint noise hum in the air. He snapped his arm out just as Yume came within range, and the line wrapped tight round Yume's neck. The man flexed his hand into a fist, and the wire squeezed tighter, choking the kunoichi. All the time, as the wire moved it made a sweet noise to fill their ears.

"I'm sorry, Yume-san, but you have to die."

Back in Samaru's small room, the reunited brothers were still talking. They had been for a long time, and for good reason – they had a lot of catching up to do. Two lifetimes of it, even. Both of them wanted to know everything about the other, feeling complete at last. Two halves that made a whole, after a decade and a half of forced separation. Samaru was sitting on his bed, and Jo had let himself slip down a wall to sit on the floor.

"Finally. We're finally together again. We're a family."

Those words rang heavy in the air and heavier in Jo's heart. A family.

"A family," the grey haired twin repeated. "All of us together at last. You, me, father--"

"You call Kabuto-sama Father?"

"Yes, of course. He is our true father, not the pitiful fool whose blood is in us."

Jo pushed apart from Samaru. "I've met him, you know. Him."

"Who?"

"Our biological father… Uzumaki Naruto, the, the demon"

He pulled down his mask, and took a long and deep breath. It was liberating, breathing without that constant cumbersome filter. It was even more liberating that he could do it for once without the illusion hidden beneath the cloth; the six lines - three on each cheek - that marked him for who he was – the son of the Rokudaime Hokage. The two of them - unnatural twins in an unnatural world.

Samaru bristled at the sound of that name. Hate danced cruelly behind his eyes, and the teenager bared his teeth. His canines were particularly noticeable, sharp and animalistic. In that moment he looked more a beast than a man; passion overpowering intellect. "Demon! Demon is too good a name for him!" He made a noise, almost a snarl, "How could you stand it?!"

His hand roughly stroked at his brother's shoulder, fingernails making jagged noises on the thick robes. "Poor Jo," Samaru said with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll kill him yet."

"Okay boys, I need you to scout around for me."

Sakumo and Neji weren't all that far from the twins. Neji was still unconscious, but Sakumo was up and about, so to speak. The Genin was going to be just fine, of course, but it would take a long time or a damn good doctor for Sakumo to really get better. At least he wasn't bleeding anymore. With one slight exception, that is – a tiny bite on his thumb.

It was cramped in the mainframe room, what with all the computers, the two ninjas and, of course, the eight nin-dogs waiting for orders from their master.

"We need a plan, so we need intelligence. I'm not risking anything else. This time, I'm going to be prepared."

**Author's Note: Phew. Man I'm feeling burned out right now. So you guys had better have enjoyed this chapter. Like I promised, it resolved some of the hanging plot threads. Of course not all of them, but then the story isn't over yet.**

**I had to move a lot of stuff around in this chapter to get the order right, so it took longer than I thought it would. I also cut it a little short because it was getting pretty long and I wanted to update. Obviously since this it'll be continued that's no problem.**

**I'm looking forward to reading your reviews. The first one I get will be my 750th!**


	42. Chapter 41

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Forty-One: The Nightmare**

Uzumaki Yume was in a bind. Quite literally, in fact. A fine metal cord was wrapped round her neck, squeezing tight. It was strong, and incredibly sharp as well. The slightest pressure and it would cut into her flesh. The cable was controlled by Haraki, leader of the Sound Five. His chakra ran through the wire, strengthening it well beyond its limits. With every movement the wire shook, sounding a high note.

"Surrender now and I won't kill you, Yume-san," Haraki said. His voice was dry and polite. Yume's white eyes flickered with emotion, and she lifted her right arm, holding up her wrist to the wire. "Uzumaki Style," she intoned levelly, as if she were just practising, "Reverse Spiral."

She flexed her legs, coiling her muscles like a spring and hopped into the air with a twist. The human body has 361 opening points, the tiny holes in the inner coil system through which chakra can be channelled. Yume expelled chakra from specific points, creating gusts of air that spun her round and round like a miniature twister.

As Yume spun, the cord wrapped round her arm, then her body. So great was the force with which she moved that Haraki was pulled right off his feet. The wire was attached to him as well, courtesy of the bracelet from which it stemmed. He was pulled in, wrenched right in next to Yume. When her feet touched down on the ground again Haraki was only centimetres away from her, but that metal cord had wrapped round her whole body, cutting into her neck and arm and through her clothes

As he regained his senses, feeling the heat of her body and the smell that bombarded his nose, Haraki began to laugh. He lost his cool for the first time in the encounter, hooting uncontrollably. "I can't believe you'd be so stupid!" His laughter rose to a whole new level of volume. "I knew you Uzumakis were supposed to be stupid, but I never expected this! You're trapped like a… fox."

His left hand was stuck, but his right was completely free. He held it high in the air and waved it so she could see, then brought it slowly down to the kunai pouch on his waist. He slipped a finger into the ring of one of the blades and started to pull up.

The cable snapped away from Yume, falling down in tens of pieces, and before the pieces had even fallen all the way to the floor Yume was gone, disappeared to behind the Sound-nin. By that time only the remnant blood and the tears in her clothes showed that she'd ever been injured. She grabbed one arm by his wrist and forced it behind his back, and pressed his other hard against his body. That left Yume's fingertips to rest lightly on Haraki's neck. "That supposed to scare me?"

She moved her hand back a little, and claws popped out of her nails; Yume scratched Haraki's skin just lightly enough not to pierce the skin.

"Who did you think I was? I'm my father's daughter, and I've been training with the best the world has to offer since the day I was born. Uzumaki Naruto, Jiraiya, Haruno Sakura, Gaara of the Desert, Hyuuga Konohamaru. You recognize these names? These have been my teachers, my family, and I was a damn good student. The best in the world, you idiot. The best in the world. Did you think I'd go down easily?"

He gave nearly no sign of surprise at this. His breath caught for a moment, but that was it. And that was enough for Yume.

"Surprised? That just proves how stupid you Sound really are. My kid brother took on your entire army at once, and I have always – always - been stronger than him. You know how they call him the Immortal of Konoha?" Yume paused, letting her breath warm the side of Haraki's face. "I've got a name as well, but it's not as well known. See, I leave fewer witnesses." She positioned her mouth right by his ear and whispered five words. "They call me the Nightmare."

"You get that name for your breath, whore?" He spat the words out, and Yume rewarded him by pressing her claws to his neck. Beads of blood appeared where she'd touched him. "Believe me, you don't want to make me mad. Now tell me where my brother is."

"Why bother? He'll be dead by now. Our spy will have seen to that." He smiled madly, as if he enjoyed the way Yume's hand had squeezed his wrist harder with that news. "Oh, you didn't know? Your little friend Jo was one of us. He was always one of us. He's been an agent working for the glory of the Sound since before you ever met him." Yume's grip could have crushed steel by then, and she felt a great rush of rage building inside her, building and boiling and rising up. "He was never your friend, not even for a second!" That was the straw that broke the camel's back, the crack in the dam holding Yume back. She freaked out; a red miasma cloaked her eyes, and her power was unleashed at the last.

Haraki couldn't see. He could barely remember what sight had been like. But he relied on other things, other senses, and he relied on pure instinct. And in that moment, his every instinct – every part of his being – told him that he was at the mercy of a demon. A genuine demon. Haraki was a logical man, and with good reason. He used his senses to create pictures in his mind – perfect analyses of every situation. And his senses had never lied to him, unlike the pitiful humans he worked with. But now his senses were telling him things that just didn't make sense. He knew that he was being held by an adolescent girl, smaller than him, but he could feel her towering over him. He could hear her roaring with the voice of a monster. He could smell fire and brimstone and ash, and most of all he could smell blood, and he could taste it. Before, he had been able to hear her heart beating calmly. Now all he heard was his own heart pounding so fast that it was like to burst.

"Tell me the truth!" The monster's voice bellowed in his ear. "Tell me the truth!!" He had no choice, he couldn't lie. "He-he's your b-b-brother. Ka-Kabuto-sa-sa-sama spent years w-working on a blood sample he-he-he got from the H-Hokage to m-make him."

The revelation struck Yume like a kunai to the heart. Jo was her brother? The betrayal she'd felt doubled. This slime wasn't just saying that her friend had betrayed her – he was saying that her own brother had done it. Yume felt a scream growing in her throat, and she tried to hold it in. It was no use; her rage-filled voice filled the heavens, bringing with it more and more power.

The blonde girl dropped Haraki, pushing him down to the ground. He didn't get up. He couldn't - he was dead, his heart stopped from pure terror. Her name was earned in blood, and blood never left your hands.

Yume cleaned the blood from her neck and arm and rearranged her clothes a little to cover the biggest tears, then just started walking into the village. Her face, normally filled with so much life, was dead; her eyes focused on her goal unwaveringly.

Down in the deepest pit of the Sound village there was a prison cell. Inside that prison cell was Uzumaki Iruka, second eldest of their clan. He had been drugged, given an extremely powerful sedative. Unfortunately, the Sound made a severe miscalculation when they forced the doses on him – they didn't compensate for Iruka's special metabolism. The metabolic systems of all the Uzumakis were sped up beyond human limits, something that let them wolf down ramen without worry and also heal much faster than should be possible. The Sound knew that, of course – they had their own Uzumaki to study – but they didn't realise that Iruka's metabolism worked even faster than any of his brothers or sisters.

Iruka's body burned through the drug long before anyone thought of giving him another dose. And once that was done he started healing, recovering from all he'd endured. Eventually, though, his eyes opened. He was lying on the floor of the cell where he'd been tossed. All he could see, at first, was black. But then he saw something, something moving in the darkness…

The sedatives were, of course, only one element of Iruka's prison. Another was the bomb attached to his neck. The bomb was set to explode if the button on one small remote was pressed. That remote happened to be held by Yakushi Kabuto, the leader of the Hidden Sound.

As long as Kabuto was holding that device none of the Leaf-nins could dare touch him, including the one he was facing right then. Konohamaru knew full well he was stronger than Kabuto, and not just by a little. But what good was strength without will?

"Enma," Konohamaru said, speaking to the boss summon of the Monkey Clan. "Don't move. He's serious."

"Glad you understand that," Kabuto smiled like a cat. "Now lie down on the ground, or I'll press the button."

Konohamaru scowled and spat. "Never."

"Do it." Kabuto was deathly serious. Konohamaru spat again, this time at Kabuto himself. Kabuto let his finger hover over the button, and Konohamaru watched him very carefully, his body language filled with repressed anger and tension. A flicker of confusion came over Kabuto's face, and that was when Konohamaru moved. He dashed at bullet speed towards Kabuto and knocked the remote out of his hand and into the air. The Sound leader moved his other hand to try and grab it out of the air, but it was no use.

A tiny dart pricked into the skin of Kabuto's arm, secreting a fast-acting paralysing agent into his blood. "Enma! Get the remote!" The monkey leapt and caught it in a roll.

Kabuto waved his right hand his left, using chakra to remove the drug and its effects, then pulled a hidden knife out from under his sleeve. He stabbed at the Jounin's face with the weapon, but his target just sidestepped casually. Kabuto slid his thumb over a hidden switch, and a second blade snapped out of the knife's handle, slashing into Konohamaru's cheek and drawing blood. He bit his lip and somersaulted backward, removing a kunai from his pouch in the middle of the flip. He landed opposite the former traitor and twirled the kunai on a finger, then sliced his own cheek open. "You're not going to get me that easily," he boasted to Kabuto.

A fist flew out at Enma, reaching for the device he was holding. The hand belonged to one of the bravest of the Sound-nins, brave enough to actually attack the Monkey King. Enma countered with a powerful kick, sending the ninja flying backwards into one of his own men, but not before the man managed to embed a single shuriken in the summoned creature's hairy flesh. The exchange galvanised the rest of the Sound shinobi, giving them the confidence to fight back.

Konohamaru and Kabuto stared each other down, their hands blurred in long chains of hand seals. Dark smoke puffed out of the Leaf-nin's mouth and nose, spiralling around him from head to feet. The jutsu continued, weaving a thread of chakra through and round the smoke, and electricity began to crackle within. Kabuto's jutsu had no such flashy effects; after a while he simply touched his hand down to the earth. The ground beneath his feet shook slightly, and a large disc of it changed colour, hardening even further to a steel-grey.

The nimbus of electrical power charged up in the coil surrounding Konohamaru, and all around them shuriken and kunai and weapons of all sort began to judder and twitch, moving about all on their own. "Raiton: Metal Storm no Jutsu!" Konohamaru shouted, and all the metal in the area took off towards him, attracted by the electromagnetic force he was creating. He lifted his arm and pointed at Kabuto, and weapons rained down at him.

Kabuto stomped his foot and the disc flipped up, blocking Konohamaru's attack; Kabuto then grabbed the handle, holding the shield in front of him. It was perfectly round, with a fine, deadly sharp edge. It bore a design in the shape of a cat's eye that seemed to glow with reflected light.

Konohamaru moved his hands like a conductor, directing the metal blades back at his enemy. Kabuto let the shield roll in his hands, stopping the onslaught perfectly. The shield seemed to be moving on its own, guiding Kabuto instead of the other way around. The Leaf Jounin put his hands together in a new seal and the magnetic field dispersed. The smoke lost its careful form as he began a new jutsu, and the floating metal weapons clattered down. Kabuto charged at Konohamaru behind cover of the shield, and once the spout of flames burned from Konohamaru's mouth he just kept on coming. The fire hit the centre of the shield and billowed out at a perpendicular angle, completely avoiding Kabuto himself.

Out from behind the smoke and flames Kabuto pushed forward, ramming right into Konohamaru, knocking him down. To follow through Kabuto slammed the shield, edge down, at Konohamaru's head, but the scarf-wearing Jounin rolled out of the way. The sharp disc sliced right through the hard earth, and Konohamaru swept his feet at Kabuto's lower legs, knocking him to the ground too. They grappled there, exchanging blows that welled up as bruises and cuts instantly.

Enma fought on with a guarded stance, holding the remote tightly. He was afraid to destroy it in case that would activate it, so the safest thing to do was just hold on to it. As long as he had it, no one could use it. The group of Sound-nins were no match for the monkey king, not even all together. His fists and feet were too deadly, too strong.

Kabuto pushed the younger man away and stood to his feet. Konohamaru did the same, but carried on fighting. He kicked, but his leg hit the grey shield. "You'll never break this shield. I spent years working on it, and someone as weak as you won't be able to even scratch it."

"Oh?" Konohamaru smiled, and began working on a new jutsu. "Doton: Land Spear no Jutsu," he said. Ground twisted and speared at the shield, a drill made of rock and dirt. Sparks rose from the grinding spear and shield and Kabuto was pushed backwards from the sheer force, but he didn't give at all.

A few extra seals were added to the mix, and the arcing earth structure broke into two separate halves. The two spears moved at either side of Kabuto, but in a whirl of motion Kabuto sliced the two protrusions into pieces, dispelling the effect of the jutsu. His shield cut right through the chakra itself.

"You'll never do it," Kabuto said. Konohamaru didn't speak, but pulled his scarf from around his neck.

A lucky hit forced the remote out of Enma's hand, and at once the Sound-nin's target changed. They tried for it, sending it scattering across the ground. Enma moved to retrieve it, only for him to receive a slash to his back. He turned to see a half-dead Sound-nin drop his sword from exhaustion and fall. A vicious yellow liquid dripped from the blade of the weapon; infection spread into Enma's body. The monkey used the last of his strength to dispatch the remaining shinobi, and then collapsed himself. He took in one shaking breath then vanished, back to his own world to be healed.

Konohamaru wrapped the scarf around his hand and arm. "What is this?" Kabuto asked with a sneer. "Trying to protect yourself with that bit of cloth?"

"Something like that."

The scarf locked into place, all on its own. It hardened into a shell surrounding his fist, and he began to charge. Konohamaru swung his arm back and then hit forward as hard as he possibly could, a colossal chakra flowing through his body. "Titan Fist no Jutsu!!" He shouted, twisting all his body's power into one massive punch, shattering the shield. His fist went straight through it and into Kabuto's body, still having enough power to send him crashing across the clearing into the village wall. His spine broke just like the shield, crippling the Sound leader.

Kabuto couldn't move, but he wasn't ready to give up. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his inner coils, converting chakra from his body into electrical impulses. Like a puppet he moved his broken body with direct control over his nervous system. It was ripping him apart even further, but one should never underestimate the willpower of a man with nothing left to lose.

He jerked across the ground, and with a gesture of his hand in the right direction brought the remote flying towards him. His control over the chakra strings imperfect, the device landed not in his hand, but near him all the same, and just before his body and spirit gave up altogether he managed to reach the remote. With one final wicked grin he pressed the button; he began to laugh, and that was how he died – with a laugh on his lips and the life of a child in his hands; his final revenge.

Konohamaru screamed, but the sound didn't seem to even reach his ears. His mind raced with images of Iruka dying, exploding, bleeding, breaking.

Beneath the village, down in that dark prison cell that housed Uzumaki Iruka, the bomb went off. An explosion filled the small room, and blood and brains splattered its walls.

Above there, Yume couldn't even hear the explosion. Too many ceilings and walls blocked her way from where her feet took her to where her brother lay.

No one was bothering Yume. No one could even get close. An aura surrounded her, with the essence of a demon. All of the Uzumaki children had inherited a unique gift from their parents, but Yume would have given anything not to have hers. Her father, the vessel for the ancient demon Kyuubi, had long been able to terrify his enemies with the power he took from the fox demon, and not just because of his raw strength. There was something about the Kyuubi that pushed an ancient ancestral button in people's souls. Its power was dark, violent and menacing. Unlike her siblings, Yume had inherited that power of terror, and with age it had only intensified. Almost no one could stand it.

Normally, everyone loved Yume. She was warm, funny, confident and embracing. But if she lost her temper or concentration all of that changed. It was a curse; fear spread out from her like a ripple in a pond, changing those it touched.

Practically since birth Yume's goal had been to succeed her father as Hokage. Actually, it had nothing to do with her father. She wanted to be her own person, not just the daughter of prestigious parents. After her power had manifested Yume realised that it was the death of her dream. To be Hokage was to be a symbol of light and hope for your people – what good was a Hokage who inspired only fear?

Yume knew that she could never be Hokage. She knew that her dream was hopeless; she knew her dream was now a nightmare.

"Stop right there," a dark voice called out. Yume followed its path, and what she saw made her heart stop. "Jo," she whispered.

He was standing on the roof of a house. He was wearing a new head protector: he was wearing the symbol of the Sound. "Jo, I know everything. I know who you are."

"You don't know me at all," he replied, his voice tinged with a deep regret. "I've been lying to you for years, and you believed every word."

"That doesn't matter! Jo! I know you're my brother!" She was pleading with him, with her eyes, her hands and her voice.

"No," he said. "I only have one sibling."

Before Yume could ask what he meant, a second voice called out from a second rooftop. "That's right," it sang, "We're a family." Samaru was standing opposite Jo on the house on the other side of the street. "No hellspawned bitch is going to stand between us."

Yume turned, her eyes growing wider as she did, until she could see Samaru clearly as well. Understanding dawned on her as she saw his familiar features. "Twins..?" It was a rhetorical question. Her resolve wavered a moment in confusion.

The twins hopped down in synchronous unison, surrounding their older sister to her front and rear. They circled round her, and she glanced from new brother to new brother, not knowing what to do or to say. She turned, too, rotating in reverse of them.

"Brother," Samaru said in his lilting voice, "What should we do with her?" Jo stared through Yume with cold eyes. "She's a threat to us," he said, "We'll have to deal with her accordingly."

Yume felt herself sinking in and out of anger and misery, going from one strong extreme to another. Her power fluxed too, pulsing out horror in every direction. It just washed over the twins, final proof of their identity beyond the whisker marks and the red fox eyes. Yume's blood were immune to her power, the only people she could safely be around. Yume had always thought that Jo could stand to be around her because of a strong will and strong bond of friendship. Konohamaru, Jo and of course Sakumo had been the only people in her life that Yume thought she could always trust to stand with her no matter what. Excepting her family, of course. Now Yume didn't know what trust really was; her world was shaken in its whole.

A touch to her shoulders from either side stopped Yume's rotation, holding her in place between them. Her eyes flitted between the almost-identical brothers. There were hardly any differences between them, excepting their hair, – but Samaru's face was different somehow. Harder, colder, harsher. And there was something else, a width larger to the six lines across his cheeks. An almost unnoticeable difference, impossible to spot unless you were looking for it. What it meant, Yume had no idea. She had no idea what to think about anything. Brains had never been her strong point, unlike some of her family. She wasn't stupid, or even anywhere near, but pushed to her limits she sometimes panicked. When she didn't know what to do.

"You're both my brothers," Yume said. "I won't fight you. You can trust me. Come back with me, please."

Samaru slapped her. "Don't! Talk! Like! That! We are not your brothers!!" He raised his hand to slap her again, but Jo moved to grab his wrist. "No, let me." They smiled at each other, warmly, and Jo brought back his own hand. His palm made contact with her cheek, more than as hard as he had to. He put his not-inconsiderable strength behind it, along with a burst of chakra, and she was knocked the ground. Blood rushed to the surface of her face, making a red hand-shaped mark rise up.

"Jo," she said, pleading with her eyes more than her voice. But Jo was stone to her dim fire. He kicked her, and the blast of pain told Yume her ribs had cracked. They started to heal almost instantly, fusing back together, but the second kick came and even more damage was done. She tasted thick, hot blood in her mouth, rolling her tongue. The third kick caught her almost by as much surprise as the first two, as if Yume still didn't expect Jo to try to hurt her, and the shock, the force made her bite her tongue, but through that pain she spoke. "Jo, I won't hurt you."

Yume dodged the fourth kick almost by reflex, and strained to push herself to her feet. Her whole body hurt, it hurt like hell. Jo punched her stomach, and she buckled under the pain, but refused to fall again. His fist hooked at her head, hitting her temple and drawing blood, but she still stood. Jo's right hand grew a set of claws and he scratched Yume's chest, dying his whole hand red. She coughed, hard, spitting out a whole mouth full of blood. The set on his left hand gripped her shoulder, digging in to the flesh and muscle like it was sand to crumble beneath his fingers. Jo lifted Yume up, her toes just barely resting on the ground.

The Leaf Jounin grabbed Jo's arm, holding it weakly. "Please… Jo… you're my friend…"

"That was all a lie," Samaru commented, watching the whole proceeding with a sick smirk decorating his face. Yume could hardly bare to look at him; to see the evil in the eyes of that face, same as Jo's and so similar to her other brothers'. "I have never been your friend," Jo said to continue. "Everything was a lie," he was still holding her up by the shoulder, and as hard as he could rammed his foot into her knee. Her lower leg snapped at the joint, bending backwards and hanging loosely.

Jo held Yume a little higher and looked her right in the eyes. Jo's eyes were normally dark, but they burned red; despite their colour and their inhuman shape they seemed unusually cold and distant. Yume had always known Jo to be withdrawn – and now she knew why. He slammed her up against a wall, then again, and again, increasing the force each time. Her bones, already broken, began to break all over again, and again, and again. Yume's grip slipped, and her hand dropped back to her side. With his right hand free, Jo could drag his claws down from her other shoulder all the way to her hand, leaving four deep gouges in the skin of her arm.

Yume was taking a lot of punishment, and she still hadn't broken. But all she had was her will; she was barely hanging on. A thread-thin hope was all standing between her and death.

"Do you need her for anything?" Jo asked his twin. "She's worthless," Samaru answered, and turned his back. "Finish her."

The traitorous Chuunin dropped Yume to the ground and knelt over her. Jo lifted his hand, cupping it like it was a knife, and made ready to make the final blow. He aimed to cut out her heart. "You have to die. For the sake of my family."

Her head rolled and she spoke weakly. "I am… your… family…"

His hand stopped. Jo hesitated.

"I'm your… big sister… I need to… look out… for… you…"

Jo closed his eyes, flinching, and moved his hand back again.

There was a gust of wind, and Yume was gone. Jo was standing over empty ground, and the twins looked around, in vain, for her. Seconds later, two figures flickered into their sight, their backs to Jo and Samaru. One of them was holding Yume's battered body, cradling her in his arms. One of them turned to face the Sound-nins, grinning wide.

"So, so, so, looks like I have two new big brothers. Not every day that happens." Uzumaki Neji spread his hands and shrugged, then, hands already out took the traditional stance of the Hyuuga Gentle Fist style. There was no Uzumaki who could match him in the Taijutsu art.

"So, stabbing me wasn't enough, huh Jo? You had to go and beat up Yume. She must have let you do it – otherwise there'd be no way for you to even lay a hand on her. We both know that, don't we?" His Byakugan eyes gazed through the twins, literally. "So that was what you were hiding all this time. Whiskers. Weird, and I always thought it was something sinister… but I just can't think of anyone who looks like us as scary. That would be crazy.

"I guess being grown out of some blood is pretty damn creepy, though. But did this family really need more kids? Yo! Sakumo! She all right?"

Yuuhi Sakumo had rested Yume's body down, but now he looked up and back. "Oh, she's just fine. Much better than she looks, heh," he chuckled a little then turned serious. "Jo, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you were my – our – friend."

The other boy didn't answer, but Samaru was more than happy to speak for him. "My dear brother doesn't need friends, not like you. Not when he has his family."

Neji and Sakumo glanced at each other. "You can't be serious," Neji laughed. "Come on Sakumo, let's take the losers."

"Yeah," Sakumo smirked. "Let's do that."

"Hold it!"

The voice boomed and, the four shinobi looked down at the source. It was a small note with a complex seal painted on to it, and it was attached to a kunai that had somehow snuck in below their radar. When they looked up again, Uzumaki Iruka was standing there, good as new and shining twice as bright. "Yo," he said.

"How did you escape?" Samaru demanded, contorted with rage and disgust.

"That would be telling," Iruka said, laughter in his eyes. "Long time no see guys, glad you could join the party. I might look a lot different right now if you hadn't." His hand darted out faster than the eye could see, and Samaru caught something. "A little present for my new little brother." The Sound ninja opened his palm up, finding a metal band the size and circumference of a human neck, though it had been broken apart by something that left a ragged edge.

"Of all the things I thought would happen to me after I saw that Portal, this was most definitely not on the list. I thought I was dead, to be honest. But here I am!

"Oh, Sakumo, some dog says 'Hi'. He gave me the full scoop, but… Well, I'll tell you later. There's something you have to hear."

Iruka took some steps forward and picked up his kunai. He cleaned it on his t-shirt then let it hang on a finger. With a slick upwards it jumped and he grabbed the handle, then tossed it again. He aimed at the one place no one was expecting – straight at the heart of his sister. It was a perfect shot, but she wasn't perfect at all. She disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving no trace.

"You can come out now sis!" Iruka shouted gleefully, and from out of the shadows Yume materialized. She'd blended into the darkness perfectly, not leaving the slightest trace of her presence. She was hardly injured at all. "Kage Bunshin. Fools them every time, right Iruka?"

"Right." They grinned at each other. "Now," Yume said, "I believe this makes it four on two. Sakumo!" She looked at him and smiled sweetly. "Stay out of it. Jo stabbed you, right? I couldn't live with myself if I let you die. Besides," she glanced at Iruka and Neji, then at the twins. "This is an Uzumaki problem."

Sakumo nodded and stepped back some. "I'll be right here if you need me, Yume."

The blonde Jounin brushed a hand through her hair and, with her hand by her neck she could reach the kunai she kept hidden there. Jo dodged it, and Iruka took his subsequent weakness as an opportunity to knock him to the ground. Neji ran at Samaru, lunging his open palm at him, but the grey-haired teen blocked his attack with just one finger. "You're no match for me," he sneered. Neji curved the side of his lip, ever so slightly, and expelled chakra from his palm, blowing Samaru's finger away. "Never…"

Iruka's eyes flashed, while his foot ground into Jo, holding him down. "Underestimate…"

Yume finished for them, "An Uzumaki! I mean you of all people should know that, right?"

Neji struck at Samaru again, but he dodged, having learned his lesson the first time. He kept on avoiding Neji's attacks as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "Pretty good," Neji said, "But not good enough!" He let more and more chakra flow through his body, spiralling inside him, and he began to speed up. Neji landed a soft blow on Samaru's shoulder, then another on his arm. Samaru wasn't quite fast enough to avoid all the damage, but he didn't seem worried. Both of his arms were numbed, but he twisted his body and kicked. Neji sidestepped the leg and gave a casual push, knocking the other boy off balance.

Yume and Iruka stood over Jo, leaving Samaru in the capable hands of their brother. Jo was lying on the ground, his big brother standing over and on him, one foot pressing down on his chest. "So, Jo," he said, "The three of us need to talk, right sis?"

"Right, bro." Yume's smile faded. "Jo, was it all a lie?"

His eyes jerked involuntarily over at Samaru. "I… My mother raised me to hate you all…"

"You hurt Neji and Sakumo."

"No! I… It was supposed to be painless…"

"Was it all a lie?"

"I… I just wanted to be with my family…"

Iruka sighed. "Then why did you run from us?"

Yume let her frown vanish, and she beamed down at the boy who was once her teammate and now her traitor of a brother. She reached out her hand to him. "Take my hand, Jo."

He didn't move.

Samaru righted himself before he could fall, then drew a deep breath. As Neji moved toward him he exhaled purple smog, a poisonous cloud that swallowed the Uzumaki boy.

"Hey, should I pitch in?" Sakumo called. Yume and Iruka turned their heads, but Yume replied back "No! We can handle this! You just stay there and concentrate on not bleeding." Something passed between them as their eyes locked, and Sakumo nodded. "Iruka!" Yume murmured, "Help Neji." He lifted his foot off Jo and dashed, waving his hands quick as he could in a set of seals. Yume looked back at Jo and repeated herself.

"Take my hand, Jo."

"Grand Gale no Jutsu!" Wind surged out from his hands, completely dispersing the gas. "Neji, did you breath any of it in?" The younger brother coughed, "A little, I think." He groaned. "I'll be okay."

"No, you won't!" A clawed hand curved down, striking at Neji's throat. It came within mere centimetres, but an unbelievable force stopped Samaru cold. "You are not going to harm my little brother. I don't care who your father is, but you've shown nothing but a cold and twisted, black little heart and I will not have you hurting anyone I love." Iruka squeezed, increasing the pressure of his grip and crushing the bones of Samaru's wrist. But instead of wincing or calling out in pain, Samaru just slowly licked his lips.

His eyes flared with insanity, and just for a moment Iruka was taken aback. But not enough for him to loosen his grip. He wasn't prepared for Samaru to slice off his own hand, but that's what he did. He brought the claws of his other hand across it, and Iruka was left holding a bloody stump. Samaru used chakra to stop the bleeding, then high-kicked Iruka in the chin. The Jounin stumbled, his brain scrambled, and he dropped the hand right into Samaru's grip. The Sound-nin pressed the hand against its matching wrist, hard, and screamed. His high voice ripped through Iruka and Neji's ears, and before their eyes his hand began to heal. A red corona swarmed round his limb, and he flexed his fingers, testing them. His scream continued.

Yume's hand was still held outstretched, waiting for her answer from Jo. He covered his eyes with a hand, but Yume could still see a tear trickle down past it. Jo's other hand gripped hers firmly, and she pulled him up. "Welcome to the family," she said, and hugged him. "Please don't kill Samaru," he whispered in her ear. "Please, Yume."

"I promise," she replied. "Now, will you return the favour and give us a hand?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, you'll know," she said. "You're an Uzumaki, aren't you?"

Samaru's scream grew; reaching decibel after decibel, and with each new level of volume it lost an essence of humanity, becoming nothing more than a primal roar. The whisker marks on his cheeks widened, just as all of theirs did, but his kept on growing with the roar until his whole face was blackened.

"What's happening to him?!" Yume cried. "He's been experimented on his whole life!! Kabuto-s-- tried to heighten the demon power in his body. This must be the result!" Jo responded, fear obvious on his face.

Samaru's body seemed to gain several inches in height as the aura of power enveloped him, and his eyes burned like red stars in the sea of night that was his face. The chakra he channelled was immense, dwarfing even the reserves of the other Uzumaki children. But they were not afraid to face him.

Yume ran at him and jumped onto her hands, twisting her body and kicking him up. Two Kage Bunshins formed and used her legs as a springboard to knock him from side to side. "U!" She shouted. A swarm of Iruka's jumped at him, pounding their many fists against his flesh. "Zu!!" They said all together. Six Nejis stood in a circle around Samaru and with their left hands around their right wrists let forth a blast of strong wind from their palms, lifting Samaru high off the ground. They shouted, "Ma!!!" Finally Jo was launched into the air, and he collided with his brother, hitting him down hard with a super-powerful kick. "Ki!!!!" He yelled at the top of his voice, a wicked grin adorning his face. He let out years of repression in that one hit.

The four of them called out at once, in perfect unison, "Clan Rendan!!!!!"

Samaru's impact caved in the earth and sent a shockwave that destroyed all of the many Kage Bunshins, but it was no matter because he was already unconscious. As the power faded from his body it left him ravaged. Suddenly he looked wasted, withered, as if the life had been sucked out of him. His body had burned through itself; draining everything it could to fuel his onslaught.

"So," Sakumo said, looking on, a hand to his stomach wound. "What now?"

**Author's Note – Some of you may know or have noticed that I started a new fic, Daybreak. It obviously isn't a replacement or this chapter wouldn't be here. What it is, is a way for me to recharge my batteries while still writing something enjoyable. When I feel burned out with Legends I write some of Daybreak, but when I feel up to writing Legends again… I write it. Obviously.**

**Heh, glad to see the surprise from you guys about the last chapter's revelations. I told you it'd be a good one. This was more of a wrapping up chapter, but I hope everyone enjoyed it as much (or more). So review to tell me, I'm anxious to know. And check out Daybreak as well, it's good work from me so far. It's a Sakura fic, which are rare enough, and it's a twist on an old classic plotline.**

**Credit for the Uzumaki Clan Rendan goes to a good friend of mine. He wanted to see it, so here it is.**


	43. Chapter 42

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Forty-Two: The Prince**

There is nothing quite like soaring through the clouds, racing at breakneck speed across hundreds of miles. Flying was one of Jinsei's truest joys. He loved the feeling of complete freedom it gave him, the knowledge that he could go anywhere and do anything. Flying was one of the few things he knew he was better at than anyone, better even than his famous father.

Now, if only he were actually free, and not just a lapdog errand boy. But that was something he could ignore, for the sake of his aerial nirvana. He could hardly turn down an official request from the Kazekage himself… even if that Kazekage was his own father. Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, was a difficult person to have as a parent, but Jinsei had turned out just fine. At least the two of them thought so. And so did the collective female population of the Sand, since the redheaded boy was sitting on a record-breaking streak of beauty and popularity awards. Life was good for Jinsei of the Desert, oh my yes.

Having a Kage for a father could be a little overwhelming sometimes. They were used to getting what they wanted, and if you wanted to be a ninja then they were going to get it, and there was no sometimes about that. So when Gaara had asked his only son to carry an urgent communication to the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Jinsei had jumped on his sand cloud and started moving.

Jinsei neared the Leaf, crossing over thousands of trees, a veritable sea of verdant green beneath his feet. When the forest cleared to wooden walls and busy streets the Jounin let his sand switch form, flowing out around. With nothing to support his feet Jinsei fell, of course, but he wasn't worried. Just because he was high enough up that the people below looked like tiny ninja ants was nothing to worry about, because Jinsei was good at what he did.

He spiralled down, controlling his descent, and sent a mental command to his sand. It moved faster than him, catching on to the corners of roofs and spinning threads into a net that caught him. Sand didn't exactly have much elasticity, but then it didn't normally float in the air either, so it wasn't a problem for Jinsei.

The people walking the streets were a little surprised to see someone drop from the skies like that. It wasn't something that exactly happened every day. Every week, sure, but not every day, oh no. So they were a little surprised – but only a little. After all, they were a village that had been living with the Uzumaki children for years now, so peculiar and outrageous behaviour was down right familiar. "Morning ladies, gentlemen," Jinsei said, smiling.

Ignoring the absent stares, Jinsei poked through the door flap of the operations base. Immediately Uchiha Sasuke glanced at him, scanning the teenager with his Sharingan eyes for anything that was or could be wrong. His eyes could see whether it was really Jinsei, whether he had been attacked or possessed or worse, whether he under the effect of a Genjutsu or even if he was just a puppet. But after a second Sasuke pronounced his judgement of "He's clean," and that was it.

"Hokage-sama, I've been sent by the Kazekage to deliver this message personally to you." Jinsei reached inside his jacket and into a pocket, and then handed it over to Naruto, head bowed respectfully for the leader of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto ripped open the wax seal and scanned the text. "Right," Naruto said, "Stupid codes. You take it, Sakura."

The pink haired woman, sitting next to Naruto, took the message from her teammate and sighed, scribbling out on a blank piece of paper. That was one of the reasons why Naruto always liked keeping Sakura around – she could be a human decryption machine if she didn't already have another job.

Everyone heard a screeching caw. It came from above; loud enough to get clean through the heavy canvas, but half way through it turned from caw to cough, a clearing of a throat. A scratchy voice announced "Yo! Someone open this blasted overgrown tent and let me in! Not all of us are mammals you know! Give a hand to the hand-impaired brothers once in a while!"

"Oh god," Hyuuga Neji said, putting his head in his hands. "Not him, not him..!"

Jinsei opened the door and a giant hawk hopped in. Of course since hawks aren't all that big to begin with, compared with humans, that still only made him about half the size of Jinsei, but that was still pretty giant. It was wearing a Leaf head protector and a scowl, and it was the scowl that everyone saw. "Finally! Could you idiots have taken any longer doing that? Or do you just hate me especially? Who put you losers in charge of this country anyway?"

"Shut. Up. Chika." Neji spluttered out. "Chika?! Chika?!?!" the bird responded, angrily. "Who said you could call me that? Huh? Huh?! It's Chika-sama!"

"Shut! Up!" Chika ignored Neji and jumped onto the table, proffering his leg to Naruto. "Message for you."

"Another one?" Naruto asked, taking the paper wrapped round the hawk's leg and handing it over to Sakura. "Stupid wars with their stupid codes," Naruto grumbled.

"Okay, you've done your job," Neji stage whispered to the bird. "Now leave, you annoying little fluff ball."

"You gonna make me?"

"Oh, you don't want to see me making you. Oh no you do not."

"Quiet," Naruto said, reading through the decoded version of the message from Gaara. "Crap, the Cloud has been feeding us false intelligence. The Sound's Seventh and Eleventh divisions were sent right into an ambush in a key location, and the enemy took the opportunity to capture an important part of our territory. The fortress at East Kanjima has fallen, according to this." Jinsei's eyes widened as Naruto's speech went on. This was all news to him, since he might have been a Jounin but he wasn't exactly privy to secret information. He had friends who'd been stationed in Kanjima. Besides, if he'd been told before and captured by an enemy they might have been able to torture it out of him. It was a routine that Jinsei was sadly more than accustomed to.

Naruto didn't say the rest out loud, but passed the sheet of paper to the people he wanted to see it. Obviously not everyone in the operations centre at that time had the highest of clearance ratings.

"Ahahahahaha!" Shikamaru laughed after reading the details, a little manically. "This is perfect." He sorted through maps that were laid out on the table until he found the right one then started drawing on it. "I happen to have planned for this very eventuality – here," he showed the others a troop movement chart. "I gave the order to have Chouji's division placed here," he pointed, "And now they're in the perfect position."

Sakura tugged on Naruto's sleeve. "I think you might want to read this."

He turned to her, no longer even listening to Shikamaru. "Is Iruka… Is Iruka okay?"

"Read it," she said, a little pale. Naruto took the second paper and read it over, then again, and a third time.

"Apparently," Naruto started to announce, "We've somehow conquered the Hidden Sound."

A ripple of shock and amazement spread through the room. Several people said loudly "What?!" while others just looked at the Hokage as if he had finally snapped.

"Says here that Konohamaru killed Kabuto. Chopped off his head and everything, just in case any of you were worried he was really a vampire. And Yume apparently killed the leader of the Sound Five." Naruto, Shikamaru and Neji smiled just a little at the sound of that oh-so familiar term. Just a little. "And there's something they want to tell me in person."

"But Iruka is okay?" Jinsei asked. "And Yume?"

"They're both fine, according to the message. It doesn't go into much detail."

Naruto folded it up carefully and slipped the paper into the inside pocket of his formal robes, saving it to show to his wife, Hinata, later. She'd want to see it. He took the original as well, because she'd want to see that too, even if she wouldn't be able to read it very easily.

"Jinsei," Shikamaru spoke up, "Can you take the orders to Chouji? You can get there faster than anyone else, and these are the highest priority."

"Me?" he said, annoyed, "But I've got plans! My squad has a mission, and I've – I've got a date!" He grinned at them all, flashing a little of his famous charm. "Can't you get one of your real message runners to do it?"

Naruto answered him. "Do it, Jin-kun. That's an order. Your post puts you equally under my command and your father's, and I need you to do this."

Just the answer Jinsei didn't want to hear. He was sick of just being a lousy symbol, though he took the job with a smile, as he did everything. He led one of the two combined squads, composed of shinobi from both the Sand and the Leaf. Uzumaki Iruka had the other, the two sons of their village's Kages. That was no coincidence – their roles were more symbolic than anything else. They took important missions, sure, because that was what talented and strong ninjas did during a war, but they also knew that their team wasn't important – their subordinates, the twenty men and women - they were important. But the two teams themselves, they didn't matter.

Jinsei knew he was a good leader and a great fighter (not to mention great at other things, too), but still he was given these courier jobs. If he didn't know better, he'd think they were deliberately keeping him out of the line of fire.

"Fine," Jinsei said to both of them. "I'll do it. But let me tell my team that our mission is delayed first, and I'll be back as soon as absolutely possible."

"Go." Shikamaru waved at the exit as the Sand-nin got up. "We're not quite finished here yet anyway."

Jinsei was out of there fast as he could go. The rest of his team was supposed to be hanging in their regular meeting place, though it hadn't really been very regular lately. Right after Uzumaki Iruka had been captured by Sound-nins both of the coalition squads had been temporarily disbanded, their members folded into other teams or divisions.

But now they were back, together, and ready to go. If only Jinsei didn't have to play courier. The other nine members of his team were lined up sitting on the benches, and they knew exactly what the smile on Jinsei's face meant. "Sorry guys," he said, "The big boys gave me another order to fly.

"Come on ladies," he said, "Smile!" He waited a moment and then added a half-apology as an afterthought. "And you too, Sazashi, Kaga." By some stroke of great luck seven of the ten (including Jinsei himself) members of the squad, were girls. Rina, Katsuki, Yasha, Rika, Miho, Tsukino and Kazeko. There were plenty of jokes about that fact out there. Five of them were former members of the official Jinsei fan club, although they'd given in their membership cards with nothing but regret. But they got to work closely alongside him almost every day, and that was worth it.

"I'll be back tomorrow, same time."

"Awwww," the girls said, even his cousin Kazeko, although she said it with her tongue sticking out. She'd never been all that happy about being assigned to this particular squad – she'd wanted to work with Iruka, but her boyfriend had refused. He hadn't wanted to have to put her into danger with orders. It had been different when they were simply members of the same team, but as soon as one of them was in charge of the other… things got complicated.

It had been a mistake.

All the same, when Jinsei turned regretfully back she ran to catch up with him, desperate. "Jin-kun, you went over to ops, right? Was there any news?"

All the Sand-nin did was grin and give Kazeko a quick wink.

"So there was? Was there?"

"Well, yeah. Turns out he's not dead, but…"

"But..!" Kazeko's heart stopped, in her chest, and she couldn't breathe.

Jinsei clapped her on the back and laughed. "They're all fine. Later, coz." He flexed his legs a little and jumped up; simultaneously Jinsei concentrated, transforming sand from the gourd he carried on his back into a floating platform.

Jinsei had inherited the habit of carrying a gourd of sand around with him from his father, just the person he'd inherited his ability to use chakra to manipulate sand, but his gourd had a little more… style to it, at least as far as the boy himself was concerned. Certainly his friends seemed to like it. Instead of the three-ball style of Gaara's, Jinsei had decided on a sleeker, more angular design, and he wore it so that the weight distributed itself more evenly on his back and shoulders. It wasn't exactly necessary, but Jinsei liked to be able to say that he'd put more thought into it than his dad.

He hovered through Konoha, taking his sweet time in what was a minor form of rebellion for the Jounin. He felt the strain from the sand rise faintly, as soft footfalls landed just behind him. There was a very specific feeling to when this particular girl rode with him, a very specific way in which their powers interacted. Jinsei controlled the element of sand, while she controlled that of mist. Her name was Rika. The two of them had first met years past, when they'd entered their very first Chuunin Exam.

It was more than a little strange that Rika was there, with him, and that he knew her so well. When they'd first met she'd been the enemy, a foreign ninja. She'd been born in the village of the Hidden Mist, and she used to be one of their ninjas, but her mother had emigrated there when she'd gotten married – originally, she from the Sand. When war had broken out, of the five great ninja villages only the Mist had stayed neutral, but Rika and her mother hadn't felt neutral in the slightest, so they had defected back to the Sand, Rika lending her strength to the war effort. Ever since Rika's father died there hadn't been all that much keeping the two of them there anyway.

He'd had been a member of one of the Mist's noble clans, the grandson of the First Mizukage. It had been from that exalted ancestor of theirs that Rika had inherited her cloak, one of the Hidden Mist's legendary relics. It protected the one wearing it with a shield of mist, vapour armour controlled with willpower. As Rika moved, latent moisture from the air would be attracted to the cloak, staying with Rika until she needed it. Every time Rika used the cloak's powers some of the mist would be expended, but there was always more water out there.

"Hey girl," Jinsei said to her, not turning around. "Must be uncomfortable back there, yup?" There wasn't much room for her to stand on the sand cloud, seeing how Jinsei had really only made it for himself. "I'm going with you," Rika stated.

"I fly faster on my own, thanks."

She put her hands on his shoulder, dangerously close to his neck. "It wasn't a question, Jinsei. I'm coming." She brushed the hairs on the back of his head, slowly, making his skin tingle in a way that somehow managed to translate into menace. Suddenly, with that, Jinsei understood, and he couldn't say no.

"Okay, okay, but you fall and you're on your own, girl." He didn't make the sand any larger, hoping to shake her off from the awkward discomfort; they drifted instead of hurried towards the ops base. Rika didn't say anything, and Jinsei wasn't going to jump in with a witty conversation starter, though it was a little tempting.

Jinsei waved to the people of Konoha, since he was making the time for it. Just like Yume and her siblings were popular with the Sand, so the Leaf's people were fond of the heartthrob. He was used to the attention everyone gave him, seeing as he was practically royalty at home – his father and grandfather were the Fifth and Fourth Kazekages, respectively, and Jinsei was expected to grow up to be the Sixth. He'd been groomed for the role for just as long as he could remember, with special training, special lessons and special missions. Now he had been given a high-profile job, all for the same reason.

Growing up, both families had spent a lot of time going between the two closely allied villages as their fathers – best friends – visited each other. It had been all fun and games for the children, and only somewhat for Naruto and Gaara. They did have trade agreements and treaties to discuss, after all. That an d they would sneak out about once a month for some sort of extremely dangerous mission, and that would leave their kids to spend the time until they were back staying together. So Jinsei had spent a lot of his childhood in the Leaf village getting to know everyone, and they loved him. Everyone loved Jinsei. The number of people who would actually be straight with him was smaller than he even wanted to admit.

"Hey, dumbass, what's with the funeral procession? Hurry the hell up," Rika said, ice cold spikes of words. He didn't argue, switching altitude and gear, but he did grumble a little. "You don't understand that I'm your boss, do you?" he asked rhetorically, and in just a moment they were at the large construct, ready for the real job to start.

Jinsei just popped his head and hand in, and Naruto tossed him the small package with just a knowing, trusting look. Jinsei took great pride in the fact that he had the respect of his "uncle". The little bundle had the message itself, as well as a map for Jinsei to fly by.

"Okay, got it. This is the last stop if you want to get off." Rika stood arms crossed on the sand cloud, and didn't say anything back to him. "I notice you took the time to move to the middle." She still didn't say anything. "Doesn't matter, 's all under control." A moment's meditation and the construct shifted shape and the girl was again standing on its edge. Rika just took a step forward. "Fine," Jinsei said, and just made it a little larger.

Ten minutes on the two of them were racing through the clouds, braving the strong winds and rising thermals. Jinsei didn't enjoy working at that altitude all that much, what with the way everything got soaked. It was a burden on his chakra not to have his sand turn into mud, and more importantly it was a complete pain in the ass. But Rika loved it, since she was never as strong as when she was completely surrounded by water. The sky was her domain.

"Smell that?" Rika spoke for the first time since they set off. "No? Look, I don't know about you, but there's no bloodhound in me - I'm all human, baby."

"Yeah. You remember that of the two of us, you're the one with the demon dad, right?"

"Don't say that," he answered.

"I'll say what I want," she said, standing behind him with a hand on her hip.

"I know, I… Just anything but that."

"Whatever," a little warmth crept into her voice, despite herself and her words. "The wind changed, and for a second I smelled someone else up here."

"Sure it wasn't a bird?" Jinsei wasn't exactly confident about this. He'd never run into anyone else when flying before, and he didn't expect for it to actually happen any time soon. What were the odds of bumping into another person up there in the infinite space of the sky? Even if flying weren't one of the rarest of ninja skills the odds would still be incredibly low, but as was they were nearly infinitesimal.

With one hand on his shoulder, Rika took her other and ran it down Jinsei's arm; she took his hand and pointed with it. "Go that way."

"Whatever," Jinsei said it this time, but he obeyed her, in contrast to that sentiment, swooping down and following the line she set.

A dot of shadow blurred through the cloud vapour, and Rika inhaled in satisfaction, the wind bringing her an unmistakeable scent. She began to smile. "Ooh, let me handle it."

"Fine with me, just don't take too long." He had to admit that he was a little impressed by the wonder of it all, and also grudgingly so by Rika and her uncanny catch.

Nearing closer to the shadow, the two Sand-nins got a good – or as good as they could get - look at what was really out there. There were two of them, a man and a woman just like them, but that was where the similarities ended. Rather than floating on sand they were instead borne on wings of cloth pairing each arm with a leg. Each wing bore a seal. They were Cloud-nin spies - extremely advanced scouts, high there in the clouds; Jinsei knew that straight away, because he recognized them. Not by sight, but instead by concept. They had never been able to prove the existence of flying spies, but there had been rumours and whispers since the war began, since before.

It was almost funny, Jinsei thought, to finally have proof. If only he'd brought a camera, he couldn't help but think, as they neared closer. Jinsei brought them in from above with perfect silence. Since his sand was propelled by will alone, as long as he made sure to control his chakra precisely there was no trace of them to be sensed. Their silent death came closer, closer, until Rika moved to the front of her companion, holding on to his body to keep steady.

A scream almost came to Jinsei's lips when she jumped. Rika just took a step and a hop and was away, free in the air. Jinsei's hand snapped up unconsciously, guiding his sand to catch her. It wasn't necessary.

Rika's foot stopped just above the sand projection, and she bounded off the air. The kunoichi bounced from spot to spot, dancing with aerial acrobatics towards the enemy. A knife slipped down her wrist into her hand, and red blood gushed from the first of the Cloud shinobi, her throat cut. The woman's wings failed the moment her heart stopped, but Jinsei moved and caught her. "Well, I guess this will do for proof," he said, looking up to watch Rika out-manoeuvring the second enemy with perfect ease.

She bounced from mist step to mist step, her movements far too unpredictable for the winged man to keep up. There was no reason nor rhyme to her powers, as far as he was concerned, no way for him to react. He didn't know when she would fall, when she would bounce or when she would float. Her face smoothed in soft delight, joy of freedom, and it was marred only with a second spurt of blood from a second victim.

"Do you have to enjoy that so much?" Jinsei asked, shaking his head. "That's just sick." He lifted his right hand, and sand flowed into shape, catching the second corpse on a bed. Rika hopped down, and the ice crystals there in the clouds fogged solid beneath her. She stood opposite Jinsei, her standing on mist and him on sand. "Idiot, I don't enjoy the killing – I enjoy being up here. It's so, so liberating."

"Whatever," he smiled at her, and for once she smiled back. Such performing had brought a cheer to even the frosty Rika. "You know," Jinsei started on a tangent, willing sand capsules to cover and protect the two precious bodies, "This really brings a new meaning to the name 'Desert Coffin', hehehe."

There were no other surprises or excitement for the rest of the flight, just a lot of cold, wet and wind. Jinsei refused to listen to Rika's demands for this time and didn't fly through any more clouds. Screw finding spies, Jinsei said and thought - there was a real job to do. Such as it was. So maybe it wasn't much of a mission, but damned if Jinsei wasn't going to do it and do it well. He always completed the missions he was given, it was a point of pride for him.

Of course, it's not like there was really a choice in the matter, because the Wind country wasn't exactly a cloudy place, a fact that steeled Jinsei and let him stand by his decisiveness. The closer the pair and their cargo got to Kanjima the fewer and further apart the clouds became. Jinsei forced himself to speed up, going as fast as he safely and continuously could, because without clouds there wasn't much cover for them to travel behind. If the wrong people spotted them then there could be trouble. And trouble was, by definition, never good.

Sweat dripped off him, but the Sand-nin was used to hard work and fierce sun, and he could handle it. Rika was less well adapted, but she wrapped her cloak round herself, cool mist embracing her and relieving her. She'd picked up more than enough water in the sky to use some in this manner.

The area below was mountainous, filled with monuments screaming up at the sky, ripping through the earth and sand. A ring of rock rose, circling a small valley, and within a single tall peak grew. Carved out of the stone itself was a castle, crude and raw in its design, but unmistakeable none the less.

"We're getting in too close," Jinsei announced, looking up from his map at the fortress. "That's East Kanjima. Hang on as tight as you can!" He poured all the chakra he could into the sand, increasing and increasing and increasing their speed. The two bodies trailed in their shells behind, pulled along in the wake. They moved into overdrive, faster, faster and faster still, blasting across the sky like a comet.

Rika looked down, as well as she could. She shouted, "You're doing this on purpose!"

"What?! I can't hear you!" Jinsei returned, grinning, and Rika knew it even though she couldn't see for sure. He'd thought this through, and he knew just what he was doing.

Consulting the map told Jinsei where he needed to go. The Leaf forces were keeping their position, staying under the cover of a series of the rocky hills that dotted the area. Their only orders were to wait. Nara Shikamaru, the master strategist, had a brain that worked on levels most people couldn't imagine. His mind took in information every second of every waking minute, even if it wasn't conscious. As a result he could make leaps of deduction instinctively, sometimes not understanding until he needed to. Shikamaru had sent the Third division to their position on just such an inexplicable impulse.

Aikimichi Chouji led the Third, and for good reason. They were the powerhouse force of the Leaf's army, the steamrollers, and none fit that definition better than Aikimichi clan, and no member of that clan was now or had ever been as strong as Chouji. The fear enemies felt upon seeing the giant of a man's imposing form was second only to that inspired by the Sannin themselves. Chouji represented power, strength itself and an unstoppable force.

But the terror of his enemies stood in absolute contrast to how his friends, allies and family felt about the elite shinobi, because there was no one with a bigger heart than Chouji.

Jinsei spiralled down, bringing them in to a perfect landing stop. From the ground they could see the camouflaged tents clearly. He hopped off, leaving his cargo to drop to the ground behind him, and started looking for Chouji.

All around, Jinsei could feel eyes on him, watching. He held his hands in the air to show his virtue, "I've got orders from Leaf command," he said, and some of the violent feeling in the air dissipated.

He took a few more steps, and someone peeped out of one of the tents. "In here," she said, and Jinsei followed. Chouji was in there, sitting at a desk, and his face opened into a broad beam the moment he saw Jinsei. "Orders, sir," the Sand-nin said, grinning back at the big man, and he tossed the packet down onto the table's surface. Chouji opened it up and rummaged through, pulling out the message. "Damn, it's in code," he said. "Give me a minute." Luckily the encryption used was a simple one – it wasn't as if Jinsei was an easily intercepted carrier bird or anything.

Moments on he had it. Chouji read it over a few times then looked back up. "About time. I've been expecting this for the last two days." He pushed down on the desk, standing to his feet, and started talking. He gave orders, very specific, to everyone in the room, trusting them and delegating to them key responsibilities.

"Chouji-san, now that we've gotten the business sorted out – you'll never guess what happened on the way here." The other Jounin smiled expectantly, and Jinsei answered with a click of his fingers. The two sand coffins floated on in, and Jinsei pointed at them, making the covers sift away.

"Is that…?" The eyes of everyone in the room bugged out, all the busy preparations halting. "Yup," Jinsei said, "That's right ladies and gentlemen: I do the impossible!" His smile was infectious, the defences of everyone else weakened by the sheer surprise. "Me and Rika ran into… Wait a second." Where was Rika?

"Oh crap."

Rika wasn't anywhere to be seen. She wasn't anywhere near the provisional base, not by then.

She'd run. Run away fast as she could, all on her own and all in a huff.

She moved over the hills like lightning, heading through Kanjima with just one goal in her mind. Just one goal, but not any thought or doubt. She didn't think anything could stop her, that there was no one who could stop her, no one she would let stop her.

Two figures blurred in front of her, whipping up a storm of dust. They looked identical, standing tall with their blue cloaks. The only apparent difference between them was in the swords they carried on their backs.

"Dan… Ban…"

The Hoshigaki twins looked at her coldly. "Rika, come with us… or die."

**Author's Note: Okay, first of all I have something I'm not very happy about saying: I'm not going to be updating very often from now on for at least the next few months. As I said, that doesn't make me happy, so I'm very sorry. That goes for Daybreak as well, for everyone reading that (which should be everyone, because it's good stuff). The reason for that? Well, I'm writing a book. **

**Yup, writing a book. I'm doing this course on novel writing, and the aim of it is to actually produce a book by the end. The actual writing is supposed to be done over the month of November, so hopefully you won't see anything of me during that time, but even in the month before then I'm going to be working on the setup, doing character studies and plot breakdowns and setting backgrounds and so on.**

**So… sorry. I'm not abandoning either of my fics, but they're going to be on hold. I am going to finish them both at some point, because I made a commitment and for once in my life I don't want to break that. But I need to do this as well.**

**Writing Legends is what gave me the knowledge that I was capable of writing something book-length. In fact, if this were a book it would be over 500 pages long. Obviously it's not all at that high a quality, but that's because they're all the equivalent of first drafts. And for that reason alone I have to finish both of these projects.**

**Thank you. And as always please review, because you may not see me for a while.**

**This chapter would also have been out sooner but as I said in my last Daybreak note, it was my birthday recently and I took some time off for that reason and had fun. So much fun.**

**The character of Jinsei is as before dedicated to my good friend Dae, and the appearance of Chouji to my other good friend Slay.**


	44. Chapter 43

Legends of the Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Chapter Forty-Three: Whirling Spirals Part Two**

"Winner, Sarutobi Konohamaru!"

The crowd went wild. Or at least Konohamaru assumed they did, because he couldn't really hear anything. His heart was pounding, he could feel it, but he couldn't hear anything. He stood as best he could, unsteady but proud, over the body of his opponent. If he'd looked up from the other boy's face he would have seen the people of the Leaf village cheering as hard as they could for him. But he didn't.

Konohamaru didn't care about cheers. People had been cheering him and complimenting him all his life. He was the grandson of the Third Hokage, after all, and no one had ever let him forget it. "Honoured grandson," they'd called him. Until Naruto-niichan – sensei – until Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru reminded himself. He was a Genin now, and maybe soon he'd be a Chuunin. He'd been a Genin for months! He couldn't go on acting like his teacher was his big brother, even if he might as well have been. Naruto-sensei had been the first person to treat Konohamaru as anything other than the Hokage's grandson. Then, with the addition to his family of a brother, Konohamaru had found best friends in Udon and Moegi. And not long after that, a surrogate father in Iruka-sensei. He even seemed to be getting a big sister, a thought that would have made Konohamaru giggle if he weren't so beaten up. Maybe he should laugh anyway, at least it would hold back the pain a little bit longer.

He was ushered off the field by a group of medics, clad in a pristine white. They hadn't had much to do, and didn't have much for him. There had been two fights already. One had been a loss, the other a forfeit; both of those coming from the rest of his team. He had felt an obligation, therefore, to bring at least one win home for the team, and for Naruto-sensei. The odds had been stacked against them, since they were only full team of rookies to be entered into the Chuunin exam in the first place, but all three of them had managed to get the finals – on their first try! That was amazing, statistically speaking. Only one other rookie had made it that far, and she was a special case, on a special team.

Konohamaru still didn't hear the voices. He could feel the rumbling of the arena deep in his stomach. There was one more fight before he had to get out there again, which gave him precious little time to revive. Seven people had made it to the finals: four from the Leaf, two from the Sand and one from the Grass. Konohamaru had just narrowly beaten one of the Sand-nins, the original favourite. Udon had been hurt too badly to continue against the Sand kunoichi, and had dropped out, while Moegi lost outright to the Grass-nin, though she'd refused to give up.

Yellow flashed in front of Konohamaru, and he craned his head up, trying to catch it again. "Naruto-sensei?"

"Hey! Great job, Konohamaru!" Naruto whispered.

"Thanks, Naruto-sensei! But… why are you on the ceiling? And why are we whispering?" He was doing both of those, clinging to the ceiling with chakra and whispering lowly enough that only the two of them could hear. The medic-nins had given Konohamaru a quick check, doing as much for him as they could on the spot, but other than that he was left on his own, just to wait. He'd been walking up the stairs back to the viewing area when the Jounin who was also his oldest friend had ambushed him.

"Sssh, I shouldn't really be down here. I slipped a tag onto the ceiling earlier, so I could come down and congratulate you guys. You'd be amazed how rarely people actually look up, so as long as we're quiet it'll be fine." Naruto's Hiraishin no Jutsu let him instantly teleport to any location, as long as one of his special tags was there. It was a technique he'd inherited, in part, but also that he'd had to reinvent, having only vague results to go on. Of course, receiving a supply of specially made kunai as part of his inheritance, once he'd proven his relation to the Fourth Hokage, had helped the process along some.

"I'll remember that," Konohamaru laughed.

"You should!" Naruto laughed with him. "Bet you're glad I taught you to walk on walls like this, huh?"

"Yup," Konohamaru said. He placed a hand on the wall, but Naruto stopped him. "Don't waste your chakra now, you've still got two more fights to win!

"Well, I gotta go. Hinata and I are really looking forward to your next one!"

"Say hi to her for me!" Konohamaru shouted, leaving him looking really quite stupid, as he was left all alone in a stairwell, his voice echoing. Looking around to make sure no one overheard him, the Genin hopped the rest of the way up. He could tell from the rumbling of the walls that the fourth fight had begun. His body was still sore, and his breath was coming hard, if a little easier than before. His immediate wounds had been dealt with, but the fight had really taken more out of him than anyone might have thought.

The number one contender's name had been Yataka. He was fourteen years old, and a veteran of two previous Chuunin exams, where he'd never failed to win at least one fight, even if he'd never managed to be promoted. Yataka was strong. He had a body honed to perfection through countless hours of training. Every aspect of his skills was at a high level. His only problem, and the reason he'd never been promoted, was that he was too clean. His style was too predictable; Konohamaru had learned how he acted and reacted well enough to lay a trap, and knock Yataka out. But not before he'd taken a lot of hits, from Yataka's fists and from his Fuuton jutsus. Yataka had been carried off in a stretcher.

By the time Konohamaru reached the balcony where the Genin fighters watched, the fight was halfway done. There was only one other contender watching from there, the girl who was his next opponent. Their eyes met for the briefest moment, before she immediately turned away and back to the fight.

The girl had been lucky. Her first fight would be Konohamaru's second, since there were only seven Genin entered in the finals. That meant that one person, chosen by randomly drawn lots, got a free ride to the semi-finals. Some people got all the breaks.

Ignoring her, and ignoring the fact that she was ignoring him, Konohamaru followed her suit and went over to the banister to watch the match. It wasn't pretty. Of course fights rarely were, unless they were between the ever-effeminate members of the Uchiha clan.

The Grass-nin, Kurota was winning. The Grass were a small village, and so they rarely chose to field candidates in whom they were any less than confident. They knew they couldn't compete with the Leaf or the Sand or any of the other major ninja villages in terms of quantity, meaning their only option was to go with quality instead. The raising of a skilled shinobi was an art form, and while the Grass could hardly call themselves masters, they did have talent. Kurota was proof of that. The young man came from one of the noble clans of the Grass, and wore as proof their ceremonial tattoos, covering his face and most of his upper torso. Kurota proudly displayed the marks of his heritage through his open shirt.

Looking at Kurota fight, Konohamaru had no real idea what was going on. The older teen just couldn't be touched. The Sand girl's attacks would seem perfectly successful, at first, but then her figure would leap back, and Kurota would be perfectly fine. From where he was, Konohamaru probably had a better view than most of the audience, and the trick – if there was a trick – escaped him.

The Sand kunoichi's name was Yukari, or something, Konohamaru wasn't entirely sure. All he really knew was that she fought paired with a hawk. The Sand raised excellent birds of prey - for use as messengers, as well as in battle. In fact they were successful enough that training them made for a rather profitable side business for the once-financially flailing village. Yukari's partner was no doubt engineered for intelligence, as he knew the canine companions of the Leaf's own Inuzaka clan were, so Konohamaru wasn't about to underestimate the pair; they were strong, he knew it. You had to be, to make it this far in the Chuunin Exam.

But still, Kurota stood strong, and stood as if nothing could hurt him. Moegi hadn't managed to hurt him either, even though she'd fought for over ten minutes without stopping. The fight had been painful to watch, though not because Kurota hurt Moegi, but because the girl's every movement had been an act, laying a deadly trap for the Grass-nin. And then, once everything was ready, and Moegi sprung that trap, there was… nothing. It was completely ineffective. That was why it hurt to watch, to see a girl's spirit break. The initial hit had taken him by surprise, as was its purpose, and the blast from the explosive note Moegi had slipped onto him had done more damage to him than anything else, but it hadn't been enough. That was why it was only supposed to be the beginning of the trap, after all – Moegi had seen him fight in the preliminary round, and she'd had no intention of underestimating him. Naruto had taught all three of his students the two principles of estimation – first, never underestimate your enemy; second, always make sure your enemy underestimates you. Moegi had followed them, and used the plans she'd worked out and trained for with Naruto and her teammates, but sometimes teachers don't have all the answers.

Udon's fight had been shorter, and unsatisfying for everyone involved. Yukari had been nothing but lucky, since Udon had dodged the attack easily in time. But utterly by chance, one of the kunai she'd thrown was broken, its centre of gravity completely off-kilter. It was nothing but luck, good for her and bad for him, as that lucky hit became even luckier, when it turned out to be rather more than a flesh wound. Udon had forfeited as soon as he realised. His was a very logical mind; a wound dangerous enough to threaten his life was not something to play around with – he could just try again, later. The Chuunin Exam had been hard, but logically speaking it should get easier as Udon got older.

Konohamaru kept watching, as Yukari continued on the offensive. Her attack pattern was fairly simple. The hawk would circle overhead, swooping when it saw an opening, while Yukari would pressure the enemy from below. There were a hundred different ways to do it, and Konohamaru was determined to observe and remember as many as possible. There was no time for his body to get stronger, but there was always time for the mind to get sharper, for your skill to improve. Assuming he won his next match, Konohamaru would be fighting one of them in the final, and he wasn't about to be unprepared.

Of course, Konohamaru would have liked a little more preparation time for his next fight, but you never got what you really wanted, so he thought. He'd only seen the younger girl fight once, and that had only really been enough to tell she was strong Most of his preparation had been for his first round opponent, though, and a refresher would have been nice. He turned his head; his eyes stayed on the fight for as long as they could, then cut to where his head was pointing, at her.

It was then that a rushing cheer from the crowd snapped Konohamaru out of himself and his attention back to the fight, before the Genin had really had any time to wonder why he'd looked away in the first place. Kurota was on his knees, his face bleeding from three lines, only distinguishable from the tattoos by their ragged puffs of flesh, and by the blood that dropped down from them.

Leering at him was the triumphant Yukari, who raised one gloved hand and flicked her wrist in what Konohamaru assumed was a signal. His assumptions proved correct, as her partner flew down and perched on her wrist. Konohamaru could sense chakra pouring out of the bird, rising higher and mixing with that from Yukari's arm.

Faster than Konohamaru could see, the bird was in the air, and Yukari was accelerating. Kurota looked up, and started to jump to the side. The kunoichi yelled "Soaring Bullet!" and threw a barrage of shuriken. Kurota was already in the air, rolling, but knocked them all to the side with his bare hands. That was when the hawk hit, its talons sheathed in dense chakra. The impact knocked him back into the ground.

That would have been the perfect time for Yukari to deal her finishing blow, right then. But that was also when Kurota started to scream. It was a sound of truest agony, tearing through the ears of everyone watching there. Konohamaru shivered, hearing it, and wasn't alone. When the dust and smoke cleared, everyone could then see, but few could at first believe. Still screaming, the Grass-nin appeared to be fused with the ground, his arm and back disappearing into the rocky earth. Yukari jumped over him and skidded, just as horrified as everyone else. Her aerial partner circled down to land on the girl's shoulder, just as the Jounin examiner called the end of the semi-final by crossing and sweeping his hands above his head. "Winner, Takasaba Yukari!" The medics were already rushing to the centre of the arena, shouting and gesturing to each other. One of them drew a circle in the dirt wide around Kurota's body, and performed a few careful hand seals. A round cylinder of earth rose up, carrying Kurota with it, and was slowly moved away to the infirmary. Chakra was being constantly fed to the earth, sustaining its shape as well as the condition of the Genin half-trapped inside it. That sustenance would keep the pain to a manageable minimum, and so keep his spirit going for longer than it could normally. Though he couldn't see it, Konohamaru was certain that Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's apprentice, would be heading down from the stands to help out her colleagues, now that there was a truly serious injury to deal with, though he didn't know if she'd be grumbling about having to work or excited by the prospect of an interesting case for once.

The Leaf Genin started walking then. He knew that his match would be next, and he felt like moving, although he didn't feel like doing it very quickly. His breathing had recovered while watching the other match, but Konohamaru knew he was still tired, and he didn't want to unnecessarily waste any of the energy that he'd too soon be needing, oh no.

Seven steps were all he'd taken before the sudden twinge took him. He was sore, and moving seemed to be getting harder, not easier. The damage he'd taken in his last fight must have been delayed, worse than he thought and sneaking up on him. His legs felt faint, like they wouldn't listen to him unless he shouted – an after effect of the punches he'd taken to his body, no doubt.

The walls were vibrating this time too, still from the cheers of the crowd, but Konohamaru noticed the shaking was softer, this time. He didn't think it was very surprising, considering how the last fight had ended. Konohamaru didn't think there was any shame in being shaken, and he didn't think that many people would be looking forward to this match. Konohamaru knew that most people didn't really care about him as a person, so before winning matches or becoming a Chuunin his real goal was just to prove himself. He would come out of this a real person in their eyes, he would, he kept thinking to himself; he would.

The sounds of the audience increased and increased, until the sunlight stabbed down at the boy and he was finally outside. The final walk through the tunnel had been an experience all on its own, the stress getting to Konohamar far more than before. For his first fight, Konohamaru had just leapt over the railing in one swift movement, so there'd been no building up of pressure, just the immediacy of danger to snap him into action. This time, there was definitely pressure. Oh my yes, was there ever pressure on him. Udon and Moegi had both lost, but he'd won, so Konohamaru was carrying all of the weight of the team's reputation on his back. He wanted to make their losses mean something more than they did, and he wanted to make Naruto-niichan proud, and protect his reputation too.

Shielding his eyes from the light, Konohamaru walked over to the middle of the ring that was the arena, making sure to position himself so that the light wasn't in his eyes. His opponent was already there; though of course it didn't matter to her which direction she faced at all. The Jounin looked both of the children over once, then twice, and nodded to them. "The second semi-final: Sarutobi Konohamaru versus Hyuuga Hanabi, begin!"

Hanabi went straight into the beginning stance of the Gentle Fist, while Konohamaru adopted a more cautious approach by hopping backwards to make some more distance between them. Hanabi didn't move from her spot, so Konohamaru stopped, and thought through his various plans. She was younger than him, and a girl to boot, so normally a good strategy would have been to simply outlast her lesser stamina, but that obviously wasn't going to work in his current state. She was completely fresh, with no pre-existing injuries to take advantage of, so that was another worthless strategy.

From where he was standing, Konohamaru threw five shuriken at Hanabi with one smooth motion. It was something he and his teammates had practised long and even longer, often standing in front of mirrors. The three of them were good enough now that the movement they used to throw couldn't be read at all, not with normal eyes. Of course Hanabi's eyes were anything but normal, the white Byakugan being her birthright. Four of the five shuriken she dodged, and the fifth she caught with one of her fingers. A flick of her wrist and a twist of her finger, and it was heading back towards Konohamaru, faster than before. She'd given it a little chakra, it seemed. The crowd certainly seemed to like it.

Konohamaru saw how fast the little shuriken was spinning, and decided catching it with his bare hands was a little too risky. He used the tip of a hastily drawn kunai to do the job instead, pivoting in a full circle to maintain its momentum so that he could fling it right back at Hanabi, this time adding some of his own chakra to the mix.

Hanabi was ready to dodge that, because she'd expected it, but she hadn't expected what else was coming. While he was spinning, Konohamaru had reached into his pack for one of the windmill shuriken that he kept inside. Hanabi's body was already twisted in one direction when she noticed that there were two, not one, shuriken coming at her.

With chakra concentrated to his legs, Konohamaru dashed forward. His feet were moving at startling speed, burning chakra for pure acceleration. He had kunai in both his hands, gripping them by the handle. Direct close combat against a Hyuuga was a fool's errand, and Konohamaru knew it. The two of them were about the same height, so their reach wasn't that different, but if Konohamaru used weapons he could increase his effective range. Neither of them had long-ranged jutsus, and Konohamaru didn't carry any weapons beyond the kunais he were currently brandishing, which were hardly ideal. He wasn't really the sort for swords. Konohamaru really wanted something a little more flexible, something that could be used for offence, yes, but for defence as well. Something that was unique, too, because if there was one thing Konohamaru knew for sure, it was that he didn't want to be anything like anyone else had ever been.

Konohamaru led with his left arm, holding it out towards Hanabi, whose body was still moving after she'd dodged. Off-balance, her hand still came up to block the attack, her wrist pushing against the flat of the kunai to knock it aside. Konohamaru had expected this, and grit his teeth as he twisted the blade and scraped it across Hanabi's right arm. Blood seeped through the bandages, dying them, but Konohamaru knew instantly that it hadn't been enough. Hadn't been deep enough a cut. The plan had been to take out her dominant arm first, then take care of the rest. The plan would need to be modified slightly.

Hanabi recovered steady footing by the time it took Konohamaru to swing his right hand. The tip of the kunai nicked her arm, but she pulled back, and instead of her arm it sliced through her bandages. They hung loose, but it didn't matter. Hanabi's palm shot out like a guided missile, and found its target unerringly. Konohamaru's liver was badly beaten already, but all the girl had to do was tap it to blast his whole side away. By the time he found that he could move again Hanabi was more than ready to keep the hits on coming. Her clever hands and clever eyes sought out the weakest points, the places on his body that had been worn down already. Textbook strategy. The loose bandages made the destruction of Konohamaru look almost like a dance, as Hanabi's arms swayed and spun.

That was it. He didn't remember anything else, after that.

"Konohamaru! Wake up!"

"I am awake," he grumbled, still keeping his eyes closed. He'd woken up, in fact, about ten minutes ago. He'd sat up, looked around, realised what it meant, and lain back down. He'd kept his eyes closed after that because it seemed a better idea than opening them and having to deal with the fact that he'd lost. "Shut up."

He'd heard the door open, and immediately started concentrating on not listening to it. You couldn't just shut off your hearing like you could close your eyes, but Konohamar found that if he just thought really, really hard he could ignore it. What he couldn't ignore, however, was a slap to the face. "Ow."

"Open your eyes already." It was Naruto.

"Make me."

"Ooh, you didn't want to say that… Let's see, I could just order you to do it, but that's no fun. But I have been wanting a chance to try my new jutsu. I call it Dancing Puppet no Jutsu. See, how it works is I put a tag on your body, and that makes a connection with my scroll, here, and whatever I paint or write on it you'll just… do. In theory, anyway. Want to try? It might not be pretty, though. Well, anything might happen at this point, to be honest. Still, if you're not going to open your eyes…"

Konohamaru sighed and pushed himself up, lifting his lids and squinting to block out the too-bright light. "All right, all right, I'm opening them. Now what is it?"

"Do you want to know the results?"

"I lost, what else really matters?" Konohamaru sighed, and took it back. "Go on, Naruto-sensei."

"Well, after Hanabi won your fight – and believe me, I'm as upset about that as you--"

"Hinata-neechan bet you Hanabi would win?"

"How'd you know," said Naruto, bitter humour in his tone. It wasn't even a question. "Konohamaru, man, you don't know what you've cost me…"

"Blech," said the boy, sticking his tongue out. "I don't think I want to know. What happened after you lost your precious bet, then?"

"The final was pretty short. That Sand-nin's luck ran out. Attacking from two directions isn't very effective against Hyuugas anyway - trust me on that one. That Byakugan is really just unfair."

"Oh, and legendary demon powers aren't?" Konohamaru laughed with Naruto. He was glad that his teacher could still come and cheer him up like a friend.

"Anyway, Hanabi beat her quickly, and that was that. Sometimes they hold a match to decide who gets to be third place, but with you and Kurota in the hospital it wasn't exactly possible."

Konohamaru looked down at that. He'd been put into a gown, and there were bandages and dressings on the various parts of him that warranted it. It was quite a depressing sight, just what he didn't need. Part of him was upset that he didn't get another chance to fight, but another part of him was relieved. He had absolutely no confidence that he could win, not anymore. "Did you talk to the doctors about me?" Konohamaru asked eventually.

"You've got to stay locked up in here for a few days, sorry," said Naruto. "Nothing else for it. You did good Konohamaru. Don't tell anyone else, but," Naruto leant over and whispered, "I think you've got a pretty good shot. It'll be a few weeks until the results are finalised and processed and all of that, of course, so we won't know until then."

"What about Udon and Moegi?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto folded his arms and leant back in his chair. "Well, obviously they both lost their fights, and that doesn't reflect well. The judges are supposed to look beyond the results but, well, they don't. Not always, anyway. I'll tell you this – Udon made the right decision. Exactly the sort of thing the judges look for. He probably would have been in with a chance, except… nothing but bad timing. It's not his fault, but if it had happened at the end of the fight, well… As it is, it's just not going to happen. Moegi fought well, she had good plans, but plans don't tend to count unless they actually succeed."

"That's not really fair, Naruto-sensei. None of this is fair!"

"Hey, my Chuunin Exam was interrupted by a genuine war! Compared to that, you guys were lucky. Although, I suppose if we'd had a war, and Baachan was killed, I could take over as Hokage, hmmmm."

"You mean I could take over!" Konohamaru retorted. "Who would want you as Hokage when there's obviously a superior candidate?"

"Superior candidate? Sure, Genin-san."

Hinata burst in to the room, though she somehow managed to do so in an elegant manner. "Hi there Konohamaru-kun, how are you feeling? You did so well!" The girl sidled up beside her boyfriend, shyly wrapping her arms around his neck. She whispered in his ear, and Naruto turned and whispered something back, and then back to his young student. "We've got to go, Konohamaru, sorry. But we'll be back tomorrow, all right?"

Hinata added "There's someone else here who wants to talk to you, though, so don't think we're leaving you alone." She somewhat reluctantly released Naruto and kissed Konohamaru on the cheek. He blushed and rubbed his face.

His next visitor didn't come straight in, after Naruto and Hinata left. The door stayed open, so Konohamaru could hear someone breathing outside. Eventually it came to the point where he needed to just shout out "You can come in, already!"

There was a soft gasp, shortly followed by the dark-haired shadow of Hyuuga Hanabi flitting in, with a graceful speed born of chakra.

"What are you doing here?" Konohamaru asked, more than a little put off. Not unfairly, either, since she'd been lurking outside for a while and had, after all, stolen his hopes and chance at victory in the tournament

"I have something to say. That is… Sorry. I'm sorry. Can you keep a secret?" Hanabi's face always seemed to stay the same, always polished and always calm.

"Sure, I might as well. I'm stuck here regardless."

Hanabi took a deep breath, then dropped her bombshell. "I cheated."

"You CHEATED?!"

"Hey!" Hanabi put her hand over the older boy's mouth. "Wnmmohhn vvuu hhaann vuuu hffeeddd!!!!"

"Calm down!" She lifted part of her hand, and then quickly pressed back down, harder, when part of an inarticulate but extremely loud shriek burst out from the gap. "Quiet, you fool! Look, we drew numbers to decide our places in the tournament, but I knew there were only seven of us, so I cheated and used my Byakugan to take number seven, because I knew that way I'd have one less fight than everyone else."

If Konohamaru's eyes had been daggers, they would have been stabbing Hanabi's face over and over. "Well, it worked, didn't it? I don't know if I could have beaten you otherwise… You're really pretty strong. That was a great fight; I don't think I could have beaten

The mental stabbing abated somewhat. While Konohamaru hated being cheated out of his fair victory, he couldn't really hate people complimenting him. Not as much, at any rate. "Mmmfffpmm!" Of course, he found it extra easy to hate people covering his mouth with their hands, so it all worked out in the end.

"Look, can you please, please calm down? I said I was sorry! Okay? Okay?" She slowly peeled her hand away from Konohamaru's face, and sure enough he stayed quiet, having calmed down through a fair amount of imagined stabbing. "You owe me," he said, calmly indeed.

"What?" Hanabi was incensed, at that, judging by her voice. "I do not!"

"Yup, you do. You cheated, and you beat me up and put me in the hospital as a result. You so owe me."

"Fine. I owe you. Whatever. It balances out that since I beat you, that teacher of yours owes my sister." Hanabi's normally refined face showed a brief flicker of distaste. Konohamaru voiced her feelings. "Blech. They're so disgusting."

Hanabi giggled, surprising both of them. "Yeah, they so are."

Author's Note: There's not really an excuse for how long it's been since I updated this. I went into more detail in the Daybreak chapter I posted recently, but I have half a book written, and I will be finishing it, but I'm still very sorry about how long it's been.

**There's another chapter I've done some work on, and that should come out soon. It's a short standalone one, so it should be fairly easy to write. Then I suppose I need to finish the war storyline, which has a few more chapters in it. There might be another chapter of Whirling Spirals too. And after that… well, Legends will be about done. I don't know how long it's going to take me, but I will finish this.**

**As I said in the note for Daybreak chapter 5, there are no more review responses in chapters themselves, but if you leave a review with a account I'll try and respond. If you ask a question I'll answer it (as best as I can). If I don't respond then I've probably just forgotten to, sorry.**

**So, thanks for reading, and thanks for waiting so long. I still love reviews, and it's been a long time, so I'm looking forward to reading them!**


	45. Epilogue

**Legends of the Fox**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!

**Epilogue**

After their stories are done, most heroes are given the reward of being able to grow old with their loved ones.

Uzumaki Naruto was not so lucky.

He first started noticing it when he hit twenty. He didn't feel any older than he had at sixteen, even with the burden of being Hokage. But he assumed that was just youth.

When he was thirty, and still didn't look a day over twenty, he dismissed it as being a small side effect of the Kyuubi's presence.

When he was forty, and looked under twenty-five, that was when it became obvious. He wasn't aging like the others. Like his friends. Like his wife.

Hinata was lucky enough to die of old age, something uncommon among ninjas. Naruto had long since retired from his position, though he still took the occasional mission when he was needed. His grandchildren were already grown up and having kids of their own, and the clan he'd dreamed of so much as a child was growing ever larger.

Naruto left the Leaf the day after Hinata's funeral. He never returned, walking away into the books of legend.

Over the years, he became a symbol of all that was good and safe in the world. He became a figure of myth. It was said that whenever someone was truly in need, the Yellow Flash would appear to save him. Garbed in his flame-tinged cloak, Naruto travelled the world for as long as he lived.

It is written that many centuries after Naruto's birth, a great and terrible demon rose up. It destroyed all in its path, and it was heading directly for Konoha.

The ninjas assembled a great army, and the Fire Lord lead them. They knew the bird demon would kill them all, but still they marched, praying to the Saint of Ninjas that their home be saved.

As they approached where the bird was roosting, the army came to a stop as a single old man stepped in their path.

"Stop," he said. "Do not go any further, lest you lose your lives."

"Old man," the Fire Lord replied, "We go to die. We will die for our home."

"You will not die this day," the old man said. "I will stop the demon for you, though it will cost my life. One life for many, that is a fair trade."

"Old man, I cannot let you go to your death. You have no chance against the great demon."

The old man smiled, and shook his head. He took a deep breath, and released his power. The army of the Leaf were taken aback – how could one old man be so strong?

The Fire Lord bowed his head. "You are indeed strong, I apologise for doubting you. Pray, tell me your name oh noble warrior."

"My name? My name? Why, it is Uzumaki Naruto." With a gesture across his weathered face, three whisker marks appeared on both of his cheeks.

A gasp of shock ran through the army. Surely this old man could not be the great Uzumaki Naruto? The Saint had died centuries ago, hadn't he?

The Fire Lord dropped to his knees, and the army followed suit. "My lord, we are not worthy."

The men and women of the army brought out the engraved fox emblems they wore, and held them out for Naruto to bless.

"Stand, Fire Lord. I am but an old man. Too old by far."

A young blonde ninja ran to the front line and kneeled before Naruto. "My lord, are you truly the great Naruto? Father of the Uzumaki?"

"I am an old man. But once, yes, I was the man of which you speak."

"Then I am your grandson. See, I also bear the sacred fox markings. I am the heir to the Uzumaki clan."

Naruto embraced the young man. "I am glad that my children's legacy lives on even now.

"Stand! Stand my friends!" Cried the aged Naruto. "Return to your home and your families, for I shall die that you may live!"

They did not rise. The Fire spoke with reverence in his voice. "My lord, to save your life we will gladly die. Who are we when compared to you?"

"You are young, Fire Lord. You are young. My time to die should have come centuries passed. I will hear no more of this."

And Naruto walked away. The army did not follow – to them the word of the Saint Naruto was as law. All but the Fire Lord and the young Uzumaki returned.

As they approached the demon's roost, it began to stir. And it spoke in a strange, bestial tongue to Naruto. "My brother!" it cried. "My brother! You are returned to me! I had thought you dead these long days!"

Naruto replied in the same tongue, his voice booming out louder than any human's. "My brother! I remember you fondly, brother Garuda! But my regret is that I must stop you here. Return to our home or know death!"

"Brother, your voice sounds strange. I think you are not my brother at all. I will kill you, impostor, and then I will take revenge on this world that killed my true brother!"

"I regret your words, but they were not unexpected. Let it be battle, then."

Naruto turned to the Uzumaki heir, who stood a respectful ten paces behind him. At his ancestor's glance, the man bowed his head reverently. "My child," said Naruto. "I have here something you must hold. This is very important."

Naruto handed him a bundle of cloth. Opening it, the Uzumaki discovered a sleeping baby – not even a day old. "He does not bear the markings," said the man. "He is not your child."

"No. But he and I shall forever be linked. Guard him well, and give unto me a single kunai."

He handed it over unquestioningly, but cried out when Naruto touched the sharp blade to his own flesh.

Blood poured over Naruto's hand, and with the blood came smoke. Now Naruto and his descendant stood upon the head of a great frog, larger than any building.

"Gamakichi," said Naruto. "It has been a long time, old friend."

"IT HAS INDEED." Came the voice of the frog.

"Our fathers stood like this once, long ago. And now it is our turn. Guard the children well."

And so they fought. Naruto and the frog against the demon. And after much time, and a greater display of power than had ever been seen by either the Fire Lord or the Uzumaki heir, the battle came to an end.

Naruto performed a set of seals, and stretched out his arms. He seemed to move as if in great pain, and the demon's cries echoed his exactly. And a power flowed from the demon into Naruto.

When it was over, the demon disappeared as if it had never even existed, and Naruto said weakly "Give me the child."

Holding the baby boy, the great ninja painted a spiral seal on its belly with his blood, and collapsed. The child grew hot, and the seal melted into its flesh. With a flash the child changed, a strange pattern appearing on his forehead and down over his eyes.

Naruto coughed, and the Uzumaki and the Fire Lord ran to him. They tried to utter words of comfort, but Naruto knew he was dead.

His final words were this: "Guard… the child… Raise him with… love… and he will become… your greatest… champion…"

And in the air next to the mountain, the voice of a crying child could be heard.

**Author's Note: This chapter was written right when I began Legends, but never published until now. Since I'm not ever going to finish the story, I thought I'd release the chapter showing where I wanted things to end.**


End file.
